Draco Malfoy and the Secret of Isthan
by Joshua Jay Bell
Summary: Draco Malfoy is trying to find himself, and gets swept up in his own adventure at Hogwarts. Will he find the path of goodness? Or fall back into darkness? (Slash)
1. In Between the Worlds

  
**Disclaimer:**I do not own any of these characters. If I did I would probably be rich. I do thing Warner Brothers owns the movies, and some formerly small British company owns the copyright to the books. Also, this is slashy. No, I'm not some raving homo (Though I don't mean offense to any homosexuals). This was written for some friends…I hope they like it.   
  


Draco Malfoy and the Secret of Isthan

  
  
The houses were hot, and even the magical community seemed to have troubles keeping out the heat. The sun's hot rays touched even the softest of skin burning it into a deep red sunburn. Though the scent of everything seemed to be that of roses, the summer was still hot, and that was that could be known. The mansion loomed over and that seemed to be the only shade on the grounds that were owned by Lucius Malfoy. The land was empty all the servants were in the large manor. Only a lone boy sat outside in the hot air, the boy known as Draco Malfoy.   
  
Draco took a deep breath as he lay on the hard concrete. He was clothed in white silk robes that kept in a lot of the heat from seeping in. He let another breath leave his lungs as he stared up from the shadowed part of the mansion in which he lay to the blue sky. He inhaled another scent of the roses as he continued to look up into the sky, "What to do…" His pure British voice seemed to fade as he spoke the words. He didn't exactly know what to do. He sat himself up promptly and looked around. He mind was still blank with things to do.   
  
The robes swayed as a small gust of wind rustled his robes and his deep white-blonde hair. Draco pushed himself off of the ground and stood up straight. Another gust of wind moved his robes and he looked towards it, "What makes the wind blow…" The question was more rhetorical than anything else, a mere question to pass the time. He had been bored most of the summer, but this was being quite ridiculous.   
  
A thought provoked some interest. His eyes seemed to perk, while his lips curled into a smile, "Muggles…" He flung over his robes valiantly as he moved into the house, "Mother!" His voice was loud and a bit obnoxious. He waited at the bottom of the large staircase that would be where his mother came down from her room, "MOTHER!" His voice was louder this time.   
  
Narcissa moved to the top of the stairs. Her gaunt body seemed frail and even more pale than usual. She looked down at him her eyes looking him over, "Yes?" Her voice seemed just as frail as she looked. She stood tall even though it seemed like her bones would break by just her standing there.   
  
"I need money, and I am going to Diagon Alley," Draco ordered her rather than asked. It had been this way since forever. Only his father could boss him around, and that was the way he wished to keep it. His mind wandered to his father as he looked up at his mother. A flash of white masks and black robes seemed to take over his mind. The small vision faded as he looked up at her, his face was never flinching, "Give me the bloody money!"   
  
Narcissa moved her frail body down the stairs. It seemed to take ages for her to get down them, but it didn't matter. Draco waited a bit impatiently, but he wasn't about ready to stop her from moving to him. While his father was gone, he was the man of the house. He had the privilege to order everyone around. He was the ruler. Narcissa made her way down and pulled a small amount of galleons out of her pocket, "You may get more at Gringotts." She then handed him the key to their personal vault, "Be back before dark."   
  
"I'll be back when I want to be back," Draco's voice seemed more of a snarl than anything else. He took the money and turned, his robes flowing behind him. He goes into the large dining room with a slight smile on his face. His family had used Floo Powder for a long time, and always had a good amount sitting around. He took a handful and moved into the large fireplace that was fit perfectly for a wizard. He flung the powder down onto the floor and with a thing clear voice called out, "Gringotts Bank!"   
  
Green flames rose around him. He felt his body turning into a weird element that would cross the barriers into the large fireplace in Gringotts. He took a deep breath as his body moved across the barrier…into Gringotts Bank. 

* * *

  
  
Draco laughed lightly as he moved out of the bank. He had muggle and wizard money and was definitely ready to use it. He looked around the large stores that made up Diagon Alley and was planning on choosing one to buy muggle clothes. He had seen them in books and could probably find a nice pair of something, or another to put on.   
  
He moved into the store and looked around. He quickly took a pair of black pants. His eyes looked them over for a split second and put them back up onto the rack. He moved around and smiled as he found leather pants, "Well…" His eyes seemed to sparkle as he looked at them, "I like these…" He threw the leather pants over his shoulders and continued to look around. His eyes grew wide when he saw a leather jacket. He took it in his hands and brought his way up to the changing room.   
  
It seemed only a few minutes before he reemerged. The leather clung to his body tight and made exaggerated various parts of his body. He smiled lightly as he threw on the leather jacket over his naked chest. He felt different, "Muggle clothes…" His face drifted from smile to the look of pure putrescence. His mind wandered thinking of what his father would say about such clothes, thinking about the way his mother would look at him wearing these 'rags.' He took a deep breath and looked himself over in a mirror. The leather pants clung to his body revealing every curve, while the jacket merely clothed his shoulders and his arms. His pale white chest and stomach was left open. A smile crept up on his face even though his mind told him he should take them off and burn them.   
  
He threw a few galleons up onto the cashier's desk as he gathered up his clothes. He made his was promptly out of the store and down the street to the passage that led to the Leaky Cauldron. A smile crept up on his lips as he threw his clothes up on the bar, "Watch these." His voice was still defined with the rudeness and superiority that it always had. He didn't know what he was getting himself into, nor did he really care what he was getting himself into it.   
  
Without a word, Tom the bartender took the clothes and placed them safely behind the bar. He looked over the Malfoy boy not quite understanding what was going on in his head. He made his way to another customer giving them a glass of ale.   
  
Draco moved out of the bar into the street. He quickly felt the urge to grab his own nose and turn around, but resisted and moved on, "Pitiful…" He muttered to himself as he walked down through the street. He saw people of all size and shapes, but everything they did seemed to be more than a burden. His mind couldn't fully comprehend why they didn't have magic, even though his heart knew they just didn't have the talent that other people did. He took a deep breath and continued walking down the street.   
  
His eyes seemed to grace over everyone that passed, and his mind still told him to hate them all. He had his wand in the inside pocket of his jacket, but knew the Decree for Underage Magic said he couldn't do anything with it, "Pitiful muggles…" He muttered again to himself. His feet continuously moved as he made his way further down the street, "How are they so blind to what is infront of them. I am here…I am not like them…" His mind still didn't comprehend everything.   
  
"Malfoy?" The voice shot out from the crowd more astonished than anything.   
  
Draco's whole body seemed to turn around looking for where that voice had come from. He thought he knew who it was, but didn't really want to believe who it happened to be, "What?" His voice cried out with its usual superior tone.   
  
The voice rose as he got closer, "Draco Malfoy?" The boy soon came into view. His long hair was messy as usual, and his body just as lanky as ever. His green eyes seemed to look at the man inside, and not at the handsome physique that is on the outside, "What are you doing here?" With a slight flick of his head, the hair moved to the side, revealing an astonishing lightening-bolt scar on his forehead.   
  
"I don't know what you're talking about Potter," Draco's attitude hadn't changed at all, "What makes you think I don't do this all the time?" His voice held a slight sense of uncertainty that in most cases wouldn't even touch. He knew his 'friend' Harry Potter had heard the same twinge in his voice on a few occasions, but he wasn't about ready to show it to him again.   
  
Harry stood up tall revealing his height being on about an inch more than Draco's own height. He was wearing a long sleeve shirt that was definitely too big, and a pair of pants that seemed to fall right off his body. He merely looked at Draco trying to sense anything out of the ordinary, "You do realize you are walking in tight leather pants with no shirt on?"   
  
"Yes," Draco's voice was silent as he continued to look at the people around him. No one even noticed him, which he found really odd. He felt an awkward need to grab his wand and start sending spells at all these people. He looked behind him and try to see his way back the Leaky Cauldron. The pull from his inside jacket seemed to be wanting to come out even more. He was lost, but under any circumstances he wasn't go to admit to it, especially to Harry.   
  
Harry didn't bother with question. He stood there tall and erect waiting for any type of reaction from Draco, "Are you lost?" He seemed to instantly pick up the 'lost vibe' that was definite in Draco.   
  
"Potter, what is your bloody problem? Do I go around saying you're lost?" Draco's voice was loud and the rudeness continued to be apparent. He looked around with a slight frown. More uncertainty was creeping all around him.   
  
Harry couldn't help but to let a snicker pass his lips. He used his hand to move his hair out of his eyes as he continued to stare at Draco, "You know, I can show you to the way to Diagon Alley. I was just heading that way myself." A smile crept across his face as he shifted his weight making him shorter by a couple of inches.   
  
"Fine, Potter," Draco tried to make himself seem like he was the one who was helping Harry, even though he knew it wasn't possibly for something like that to happen. He took a deep breath and motioned for Harry to lead the way.   
  
Harry nodded lightly as he began to walk down the street. He moved quickly as he made his way down the street. He looked back every couple of seconds to make sure Draco was still following him. His own mind was wandering about everything except what was happening. The Dursley's had dropped him off even after he told them not to several times. His 6th year of Hogwarts was quickly approaching and he still wasn't sure what Voldermort would try to do this year, "So, what were you doing out on the street?"   
  
Draco didn't know how to answer. He had been watching Harry sway, watching his footsteps. He refused to get lost once more. The words seemed to be drowned out by him thinking of why this man was still helping him after everything he had done to make his life a living hell, "I wanted to see them." The words seemed to come from his mouth randomly. He didn't know whether or not they were what he meant to sa, or just what he said. Either way, it was still the truth to it all.   
  
"And what do you think of them now?" Harry looked up and saw the sign for the Leaky Cauldron. He turned back and looked Draco over for another second, "I promise I won't tell anyone about it."   
  
"They seemed a bit odd." The truthful words flowed from Draco as the man looked at Harry, "It seemed so awkward to be walking there beside them." His old self quickly came to take over, "But they are still pitiful, and weak compared to us." He felt his heart sink as the words escaped his mouth. He wasn't sure how he could openly say that to Harry, especially after he had helped him. He just continued to stand tall as he moved away from him into the Leaky Cauldron.   
  
Harry stood there for a moment before following him in, "Draco Malfoy," His voice was deep and resonated on the walls, "What do you think you are trying to prove." He stood tall in the doorway, "You are proving nothing but doing what you do. You are making yourself sound like somebody's doll…a play toy."   
  
The words struck Draco hard. He turned to look at Harry his eyes looking over him. His height was only a few inches taller, but with the words that escaped his lungs, he seemed to be a giant. Draco listened to the words not sure how to take them. Everyone in the Leaky Cauldron was staring at him looking at him as if he was the play toy that Harry said he was, "What gives you the right to speak to me like that?" His own voice was deep, and his words defined. This was a battle that he didn't think he could win, but his very will kept him on.   
  
"Compassion," The one word flowed from his lips. His green eyes continued to look over Malfoy, "You don't understand it, nor could you ever. You can't take it in, can't admit to defeat. Yet in admitting such to yourself you gain compassion towards the victor, and towards yourself." Harry didn't know if his words meant anything, but they came from his heart. That was all that mattered to him.   
  
Draco was still stunned. He didn't even begin to fully understand that words. He had always seen Harry as a lower being, even though he himself was probably the lower one. He looked the poorly clothed boy over no longer sure what to say. Draco stood there, tall and defined, but he didn't really know what to say anymore. The words escaped and were directly from his own heart, "I don't know what to say anymore…"   
  
Harry continued to stand tall and looked at him. His eyes seemed to have pierced into the depths of Draco's soul. He didn't even expect that remark, but his eyes and facial features made it look like he knew exactly what he was going to say. Harry turned to look at Tom the bartender and smiled, "Can we got a room?"   
  
"Sure Mr. Potter," Tom made his way over to the other side of the bar. His gray hair was its usual messed up state, and his clothes seemed to be that of an old Irishman. It didn't seem to bother him at all. He reached the key and threw it to Harry, who promptly caught it, "That would be five galleons for that room."   
  
Harry made his way up to the bar with the key still in hand. He dropped a few gold galleons on to bar, "There you are." He smiled lightly as he made his way over to Draco. He grabbed his arm, which Draco let him take, and moved up the stairs looking for their room.   
  
Draco followed Harry, not so sure what he was playing at. His mind was wandering about everything, about how he was supposed to feel, about how his parents had brought him up, even about why his only friends seem to be people exactly like him. It just didn't make any sense to him anymore; everything in his mind was growing weary.   
  
Harry opened the door and held it open for Draco to enter. He made a quick look into the room, and then let Draco go into it. The room was only about 15 feet, by 20 feet, but it was large enough for the two of them to talk in. The bed was towards the wall with a window that could see into Diagon Alley.   
  
Draco sat down on the bed his mind still a bit jumbled, "What am I doing here Potter?"   
  
"Draco," Harry's lips spoke his name as he sat himself down on the bed.   
  
Draco was stunned by this. He turned to look at him, and was swept away by his eyes, "What did you say?" His voice was weaker than before, and his apparent stupor was defined in all his facial features.   
  
"I said Draco," Harry wasn't about ready to back down from the fight. He looked the man over; Draco's eyes gazing into his. Their glance met and it was almost like a magical shiver that rolled down his back. He took a deep breath as he continued to stare.   
  
Draco couldn't pull his eyes away. He was trying to see into his soul, but all that came from his eyes was that mystic look, an ancient power that couldn't ever fully be understood. Their eyes just stayed together transfixed by one another. Finally, Draco broke the silence with a simple word, "Harry…"   
  
Harry was stunned by this revelation. He had said Draco's name to try and gain his attention, but the word that was coming from Draco seemed to hold other emotions. Harry's awe struck look seemed to be as awkward for him as it was for Draco to say it. The word rang in Harry's ears. He tried to pick up some type of emotion, but his own mind was pulling up a blank.   
  
"Harry," Draco repeated again. His voice was filled with a happiness that Harry had only heard when Draco was teasing him. Draco looked at Harry and moved himself closer. He didn't really know how this would turn out, but a feeling in his gut told him to go for it. He took a deep breath as he moved closer.   
  
Harry looked at him, but didn't move. He smiled lightly feeling the emotion in the single word. He couldn't take his eyes away from him. He looked him over a second time; Draco was still moving closer to him.   
  
Draco moved his head closer to Harry's and their lips met for a single moment. It hadn't been Draco's first kiss, nor was it Harry's, but this kiss was something else. It was something complete. Draco pulled away only a few inches away from Harry's lips. Draco opened his eyes and looked at Harry's eyes still closed.   
  
Harry opened his eyes not sure how to react. He had felt a twinge of magic on his lips. Not real magic, but something very metaphorical. He looked into Draco's eyes still unsure about himself, "Wha…" He couldn't even finish his word. He was still taken by the eyes of the man in front of him. He took a deep breath and brought his tongue over his lips, which seemed a bit odd to him as he did it.   
  
"I'm sorry," Draco stood up. He didn't know what he had done; his mind was racing. He took a deep breath and paced around the small room. His mind kept going in a thousand different directions. He looked back at Harry and another deep breath entered his lungs.   
  
Harry stood up next his height impeding Draco's pacing. He took his own deep breath as he brought his arms to hold Draco in place, "Stop." Harry's voice was deep and articulate, "Draco, it's fine." He didn't know whether he was okay with what was going on, but he wanted at least for his new friend to come down.   
  
Draco was staring at the ground. His eyes brought themselves back up and looked back into his eyes. He brought his lips back up to Harry's once more. Harry almost unknowledgeable returned the kiss with a slight smile on his lips. Draco held his eyes closed as the kiss continued. Draco was the first to pull away; though, he was somewhat still reluctant to do so. He smiled lightly as he looked at Draco, "This changes nothing…"   
  
"This changes everything," Harry says as he moves his head closer to Draco. The two of them met and continued their intimate kiss. Neither of them really cared about anything. Both of them were embracing one another, changing their destiny as it seemed fit. A flower was blooming between the two, and someday may become a rose. 


	2. Distant Tears

  
**Disclaimer:**I do not own any of these characters. If I did I would probably be rich. I do thing Warner Brothers owns the movies, and some formerly small British company owns the copyright to the books. Also, this is slashy. No, I'm not some raving homo (Though I don't mean offense to any homosexuals). This was written for some friends…I hope they like it.   
  


Draco Malfoy and the Secret of Isthan 

  
  
Draco looked out the window with a slight sigh. His mind was questioning everything. He looked down on Diagon Alley from his room high up in the Leaky Cauldron. It didn't matter that they were down there and he was up there, it mattered that they seemed to know who he was and he didn't. He took a deep breath and released the air. He didn't know what he was going to do. Everything had happened so fast between him and Harry, he almost seemed indebted to him, which he would never tell anyone, especially Harry.   
  
He paced back and forth as his mind began to wander, "Who are you…" It seemed like such a simple question, but it plagued Draco's mind. He didn't know who he was, "Where are you going…" His mind's voice continued to ring out with more and more questions, but he had more forming, and no answer, "What will people at school think…Will they call me names…Will I still be Malfoy the Magnificent…Was I ever Malfoy the Magnificent…Could I ever be with him…" The question ravaged his mind, and he couldn't even think any longer of Harry. He looked down at his silk robes he had put back on. They felt so soft on his skin. They were so different than his tight leather than seemed to hold everything where it belong to be. These were different. They made him feel free almost innocent in the white.   
  
Draco shuffled his hand through his messy blonde hair that seemed unbefitting of him. He didn't care anymore. He had larger problems to deal with and he couldn't even start dealing with them. Harry had defied him since he began school, so why now was he attracted to the boy who lived. Why now was he going to become Harry's friend, even boyfriend if it was possible? A plan began to form in his head, "I could always just play like it didn't happen…like it was a fluke. I could go to school and become Draco Malfoy, the one to be feared." Draco felt a tear fall across his cheek.   
  
His hand wiped the tear away quickly. He wouldn't let Harry see him cry, nor would he ever let Harry see him be the coward he always thought he was. He took a deep breath and released it with Harry's name, "Harry…" The name was more of a moan than his own voice, but it didn't matter. He was going to release it and hope to rid it from his life, the friendship he craved, a love he'd never had, and even the simple touch that made them so different from other relationships. He would rid himself of it all.   
  
The door creaked open and revealed Harry in all his glory. The black robes surrounded his body had been bound tight at the waist letting the lower robes ride the curves of his body. He smiled lightly as he saw Draco, "Hello Draco." Harry let out a small laugh as he set down his books, "Did you tell anyone you were here yet?"   
  
"Potter…" Draco's voice seemed to silence everything in the room. He hadn't called Harry, Potter since their meeting the day before. The night was spent merely looking at each other, words didn't seem like they could express what they had, now today it was Potter all over again, "Why do you intrude like this? Do I look like some mudblood you can just barge in on?" His voice rose to that of his 'former' self. He looked Harry over with a look of disgust on his face, "You are some filthy mudblood…and don't belong to be with me…" Draco pushed past the doorway and left down the hall.   
  
Harry's mind was gone. He couldn't see anything, everything faded from his view. He took a deep breath then looked into the room. Everything that Draco had brought was still there, except what he was wearing. He looked down at the leather with a slight wonder. Harry was trying to help him, and Draco had kissed him in return. Harry was finally beginning to think they could have been more than what they had been for the 5 years they had been going to school. He thought maybe they could be something…   
  
Draco moved down the hallways through the Leaky Cauldron, and with a quick tap of his wand was back into Diagon Alley. He moved quickly throw the streets pushing anyone that was in his way out of it. He moved down to a store and went in, trying to hide from the eyes that could have been Harry's up in the window.   
  
"Hello there," Olivander's voice rang out as he moved to the counter, "Mr. Malfoy?" Concern filled with voice as he looked down at the boy, "What is the problem, sir?"   
  
"There is no problem," Draco snapped as he tried to hold back the tears he wanted to release. He didn't know what he was doing. His mind had lost the reason he left the room, he reason he called Harry what he did, and even the reason why he meandered into the wand shop. All he could feel was hurt, and it hurt all over.   
  
"Come now, Mr. Malfoy," Olivander's voice rose as he moved over to him, "What is the problem?" He brought himself across the counter and walked over to him, "You want to try and see how well your wand is working?"   
  
Draco looked up his eyes glossed over with tears, "I don't want to check anything old man, get your filthy bloody….hands off of me!"   
  
Olivander had not touched him, nor did ever plan on getting away, "Come now son, let's see your wand, do a spell." The man stood up waiting for Draco to do what he asked.   
  
Draco reluctantly pulled out his wand. He did a slight swish and flick and calmly said, "Wingardium Leviosa!" Various books rose only a few inches from the place they were. He moved the wand wanting to make them go higher but they merely fell back down to their place, 'I can't even get my damn magic to work right!" A short tear fell down his cheek as he looked up at Olivander.   
  
"Well!" The old man said taking the wand from him, "That doesn't seem to be what you need. Boy, are you sure this is the wand I gave you to take?" His voice held a mock tone in it, almost acknowledging that the boy had changed, but not about ready to tell the boy directly. He looked around his wands, taking that one and placing it securely in a box, "Maybe this one…" He brought the wand down, "13 inches, yew, dragon heartstring."   
  
Draco took the wand and did a very defined flick forward. The glass in the front of the store burst and fell. He handed the wand back to Olivander who was shaking his head.   
  
"Repario!" Olivander said as the wand entered his hands. The windows promptly fixed themselves as he set the wand back into box it was held in. He scurried around and grabbed another one. He came back smiling lightly, "Well, this might be the one, 10 inches, willow, and griffin feather." He handed the wand to Draco who took it once more.   
  
"This is pointless…" Draco looked up at Olivander. A white light, much like the silver light from a Patronus, formed around him and engulfed him. Olivander seemed to be taken back by this, but a smile formed on his lips. As the white light faded, Draco merely stood there with his eyes looking at the white wand, "Peculiar…"   
  
"Peculiar indeed…" Olivander looked at Draco with a raised brow, "That has not happened since…well since Harry Potter was in there. There is usually only sparks with the wand to signify that the wand chose the person, but this…quite peculiar."   
  
Draco looked up at Olivander, "How much do I owe you?"   
  
"Well dear boy," Said the old man looking at Draco, "I will take the wand you had, and you take this one. It will be a fair trade if there ever was one."   
  
"Thank you," Draco caught his civility almost instantly. He didn't know how to rectify it to show his fiend-like behavior that he always had before. Things were changing within him, and it wasn't just puberty. He looked at Olivander with a smile, "Thank you again, sir."   
  
Olivander smirked in reply and merely nodded rather than saying anything. He could see the pain in Draco, but wouldn't reveal it to anyone. It was something Draco would have to cope with, and some wand maker did not want to interfere.   
  
Draco looked around outside, and then down at his new wand. The wand was white and flexible he bent it tip to end and it didn't even crack. He smirked lightly at the little thing, "Bloody hell…" His tone was a bit exasperated, but it didn't matter. He had fallen in love with a new wand, or maybe it was something more?   
  


* * *

  
  
The Hogwarts Express was ready to go on it's usual time. Draco had brought himself into his usual compartment with Crabb and Goyle. He could smell both of them as they entered the compartment, and had hoped that at least for the first day of school they would have bathed. He put on a deep dark smile as the two of them entered, a smile that he had forced himself to do, "Well Crabb, Goyle," His voice had its usual snap to it, "Who should we hex first?" The smile grew on his face, dark and sinister. He knew things were changing with him, but he forced himself to keep up appearances.   
  
"Longbottom," Crabb chime out with his deep voice. It sounded almost like he had filled his face with food before he began talking, but when Draco remembered, it was just his usual voice.   
  
Draco's mind raced as the dark smile grew on his face, "Longbottom is Harry's friend. Maybe if I do this I can finally show Harry how little he means?" He looked directly at Crabb, but faltered, "Remember that club they had last year. This could be bad. They have all those curses and spells."   
  
Crabb and Goyle looked and one another and seemed to remember what had happened the year before. They looked at Draco and nodded. Draco looked at them not really sure if they remembered, or were just pretending to remember because he said it happened. Either way he was still right.   
  
Draco rolled his eyes, "You shall impress me with your hexes on the midgets." He felt an inner sigh of relief as he said this. He had hoped that he wouldn't have to hurt anyone. If he did he would angry Harry, and he didn't need Harry's anger against him. He knew how far it would get him to be good, and wanted to keep on the good side of things until at least he realized what was happening.   
  
Crabb and Goyle quickly brought in a first year. The young child seemed to be only a foot tall though it was dwindling on five. Draco looked down on him with the same dark smile plastered on his face, "How are you doing midget?" Draco's voice was cold and showed the impeding doom of the child.   
  
Crabb was the one who pointed his wand and muttered something under his breath. A clear wind hit the young boy who seemed to burp a slug. Draco's two 'friends' quickly burst into chuckles. Draco himself laughed a fake laugh as he watched the kid pit up more slugs, "Get him out of here!" Draco said as he looked at his friends, "He is getting slugs on my robes…"   
  
The boy left the compartment being dragged by Crabb and Goyle. Draco was left alone. He spread his legs out on the chair as he looked up at the ceiling. Pansy Pakinson made her way into the compartment. Her robes seemed really dirty as she moved to sit across from him, "Hello Dray." Her voice gave Draco headaches.   
  
"Hello Pansy," Draco hated everything about her. He hated her name, he hated her looks, and he especially hated her voice. The only reason he went to the Yule Ball with her is because she was a head of Slytherin much like he was. Draco looked out the window as Pansy began a story about some stupid thing she did this summer.   
  
Pansy soon left with a smile on her face. Draco just continued to stare out the window. He was a prefect and probably should have been doing something very prefect like, but he decided to just sit there and watch as the sun faded, and the moon rose. They would soon be to Hogwarts, where Draco would become a Slytherin, and Harry would become a Gryffindor. They were from different worlds, and it would always be that one…at least that is what he thought. 


	3. American Trees

  
**Disclaimer:**I do not own any of these characters. If I did I would probably be rich. I do thing Warner Brothers owns the movies, and some formerly small British company owns the copyright to the books. Also, this is slashy. No, I'm not some raving homo (Though I don't mean offense to any homosexuals). This was written for some friends…I hope they like it.   
  


Draco Malfoy and the Secret of Isthan 

  
  
Crabb and Goyle had left by the time Draco chose to leave the cart. The Hogwarts Express had been stopped for a few minutes and most of the people had already left. He took a deep breath still so unsure of himself and stepped out of the train. He was fully clothed in his black Hogwarts robes with his under clothes showing his Slytherin colors. A dark smile crept up across his face as he looked at the school. His mind wanted him to scream, his heart wanted him to cry out for help, but his mind told him to be a good evil student and go on with the way the Malfoy's had always been in this school.   
  
Draco moved to the carriage with a slight smirk. Pansy was standing out waiting for him, "Draco! You missed Crabb throwing a second year out. The kid was crying just watching us come into the carriage!" The girl's voice drove even more railroad spikes through his head.   
  
"Well, Bloody hell!" Draco said with a look of disappointment plastered on his face, "I really would have liked to see that." He was lying about everything, and was sure about nothing. He made his way into the carriage, and sat across from Crabb and Goyle. Pansy made her way into the carriage and sat beside Draco. She was a born leader, much like Malfoy was, but she was Joseph Stalin incarnate. Draco smiled lightly as she link her arm with his and groped that arm and shoulder with her other hand, "I want to be back in the Leaky Cauldron…Now, Harry will be every so close…yet so far away."   
  
Pansy's voice rang out again as she began another story, "My father has recently been accused as a Death Eater…" She began her story with what seemed like interesting news, "He lied to the Ministry of Magic to their face! And they took it like it was the whole truth, and nothing but it!" Her high pitched voice seemed to go on the whole carriage ride. Laughs broke out from both Crabb and Goyle, but merely smiles were created on Draco's face. His mind was still lost in thought.   
  
"Am I good enough for this school?" His mind was ravaged with thoughts, "Do I belong with these worshipers of darkness. Must I relate to only them…don't you think I could be with Harry, and his filthy half-breeds of friends." He couldn't concentrate of any of the words.   
  
"Draco!" His name rang out through the carriage.   
  
Draco's mind was pulled away from his thoughts as he turned to look at Pansy, "Yes?" She had already gotten out of the carriage and was waiting for him to escort her into the castle. Draco inwardly rolled his eyes as he got out of the carriage, "Do I look like her slave? What does she take me for…some mongrel…some stupid git!"   
  
Pansy waited and smiled a grotesque excuse for a smile as Draco moved beside her, "What are we going to do to Harry Potter this year?" Her voice was low so none of the other teachers could hear them, "Are we going to hex him good?"   
  
"I need my revenge…" Draco's voice was dark and sinister as a dark smile crept across his face. His robes swished as he moved with the same dark smile plastered on his face. He would keep to routine, and hopefully everything would push themselves back into place. His life had to sort itself out.   
  
Harry stood tall preparing to enter the large room in which they would have the sorting, Dumbledore would give them a nice speech, and where they would eat. Everything would start off well, and hopefully the rest of year will follow.   
  
"Potter," Draco's voice was deep and scornful as he said his name. Harry turned instantly looking at Draco, "Just because you think you are the greatest, doesn't give you any bloody right to be some little rat. You had no right to do what you do to my father." His voice was deep and demanding.   
  
Harry stood tall with a glint in his eye as he looked at Draco, "Malfoy, you are incorrigible. Your father is one of the most evil wizards there is, but he is a pathetic excuse for even that. He is a follower, just like you are. Voldermort would never recruit someone as an equal, they are all his servants. His puppets. Things for him to play with..."   
  
Draco pulled out his wand but the sound of many footsteps, "Later…" His voice was still scornful as he pushed passed Harry and entered the large dining hall. The four of them made their way to sit next to the other Slytherin's. Draco watched as Harry sat with the other Gryffindors. He tried to continue his dark smile, but it wouldn't hold.   
  
He felt alone. He looked around the room and he seemed to have nothing here. Crabb and Goyle were nothing but slaves. Pansy was only with him because she knew of his own connects to the Dark Lord himself. These people used him as much as he used them. The room was filled with people, but he was still alone.   
  
The sorting seemed to take even less time than it usually did. The hat seemed merry, but the same cryptic warning of togetherness still held true when it came to the end. Draco cheered as the name 'Slytherin' was the first to be called and the boy came over to sit with the other Slytherins. He looked at the dark blonde youth, someday that boy could be like him. The boy would be dark, sinister, and would want power, but in the end he would find that he is alone.   
  
Dumbledore stood up to speak. He cleared his throat and the whole room went silent, "As you know," His voice rang out in the hall, "Voldermort has been found out. His reign of terror has begun to consume us already. It took the world of magic almost a year to decide that he has actually returned, and even now there are still many skeptics.   
  
"I would like for everyone to stay on school grounds during this year. Hogsmeade will be off limits to everyone. Although, our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Miss Willow Rosenberg, has asked that if you would like anything from a Butterbeer, to Berty Bott's Every Flavor Beans, you can ask her and she will get it for you.   
  
"All first years take heed that the Forbidden Forest is off limits to everyone. The Quidditch team will have tryouts all this week and into next. Now, I believe Professor Rosenberg," Dumbledore's words seemed like he could add so much more, but wanted to keep the panic level down.   
  
The woman who would be the next Defense Against the Dark Art's teacher stood up. She was shorter than a lot of the other teachers, but she was skinny and she seemed really chipper. Her curled red hair fell below her shoulders. Her robes were a pale green that seemed to make her green eyes glow even brighter. As she spoke, her voice seemed to be filled with confidence, yet had an edge that showed a behavior that Hermoine Granger would know perfectly.   
  
"Hello," Professor Rosenberg's voice rang out. She was American, which could be told almost instantly, "I would also like to welcome everyone to Hogwarts, not only for the first years. We are going into a very hard time, and like the Sorting Hat said, we need to stick together through this time, and not be separated by our houses." She smiled lightly which seemed to light up the whole room, "I wish the best of luck for this next school year, and I hope that we can all stay safe, and we will have a good year." She sat back down with the same grace she stood up with. The smile was still on her face as the teachers, followed by the students, began to clap.   
  
Dumbledore stood back up, "Thank You Professor Rosenberg, now without further adieu. Let us eat!" He spread his arms open as if it was a signal for all of the tables to become full with House-Elf-Made food.   
  
Draco grabbed a large amount of food and threw it on his plate. He looked back up at Professor Rosenberg. She didn't seem nearly as bad as the other teachers did, and her voice seemed to make her actually care. Draco hastily ate his food and went out into the hallway. His mind once again was ravaged with thoughts, "What am I doing?" That simple question was inside his head, plaguing him.   
  
Draco stood up straight as he heard people began to rise from their chairs. His eyes watched as first years from a variety of houses came out with their Prefects. A sneer came across his lips as Hermoine Granger and Ron Weasley walked with the Gryffindor first years. Draco looked at Pansy with the Slytherin first years. The two of them moved through the corridors going to the Slytherin commonroom.   
  


* * *

  
  
Draco walked into the Defense Against the Dark Arts class the next morning. The class had been moved so much over his years as Hogwarts that he wasn't surprised when it was moved again. The classroom doors were large and opened into a well lit room. The room had three different levels. The levels at which the tables where students were already sitting, the stage-like place where Professor Rosenberg would stand and conduct class, and finally the stairs that would go into the Professor's office.   
  
Draco was stunned with a thought as he looked at the room. It seemed to be the same room he had in his second year. He took a deep breath at the awe of everything. The whole room was different than it had been in that year. That second year the room was filled with mostly pictures of Gilderoy Lockhart, but now it was filled with weird items that seemed to be from a variety of animals.   
  
Professor Rosenberg smiled as she came down from her office. Her robes were a white that made her skin seem much paler. She looked down at all her students as a smile came across her face, "Welcome to Defense Against the Dark Arts." Her voice seemed silky smooth as she spoke to them, "I do believe this is 6th year Gryffindor and Slytherin's?"   
  
"Yes," Hermoine rang from the front row. She too had the same smile plastered on her face. She smiled a broad smile as she look up at the teacher. Her wand was out ready to go as she looked at her, "Hello Professor Rosenberg."   
  
The Professor merely acknowledged her with a slight smile and a nod. She looked at the class as a whole and opened her mouth to speak, "Many of you can already tell I am not from Great Britian. I'm from America, more precisely Southern California. I graduated from the Salem Institute nearly 4 years ago after my 17th birthday, and am now here to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts. The Headmaster has told me that you have had a new teacher of this course every year since your first year. I am going to hopefully fill in the blanks of your first five years and hopefully give you some insight to what you will be seeing next year."   
  
Hermoine already had her hand up ready to ask a question. Professor Rosenberg just smiled lightly, "I'll answer your questions in a moment." She quickly went on with her speech, "This class is going to be very open, and you start under my full trust. You can call me Willow here in the classroom, but everywhere outside of class you will call me Professor Rosenberg, or Miss Rosenberg, either one will do. I will dwindle in all types of classes from potions to charms, and you should be expected to be at least mediocre when it comes to those two courses. Now, Miss Granger is it? Your question, please."   
  
"Will we be discussing things like the Patronus charms?" Hermoine was lost in thought as she spoke the question. She herself had long been able to do a Patronus charm, but she knew there was quite a few in he class that didn't.   
  
Willow smiled as she looked at Hermoine, "I would like to speak with you after class, don't be alarmed, I would just like to speak with you." She moved her gaze to the rest of the class, "I heard of the 'Dumbledore's Army,' that was created last year since the teacher of this course was working for the Ministry of Magic and not the school. I would like to talk to anyone who was involved and see what you learned. Those students who can show me what they can do, including a Patronus charmed, may be exempt from this course until after Christmas, though it might be wise to stay in here and learn with the other students so you do not need to make up the few new things they will learn that you others will not."   
  
Hermoine rose her hand once more, and with a simple nod began, "I will say I was part of DA, and would tell you whatever you need to know." She smiled lightly at the teacher as she set her hand on top of her, 'Dark Arts; A Guide to Darkness' and 'Protection Against the Darkest Evils' books.   
  
Willow nodded as she looked at the rest of the class, "Today, I am going to let you people talk amongst yourselves, and tomorrow we will start with the Patronus Charms." She steps down off the stage she was standing on and went down to Hermoine, "Miss Granger…I would like to speak with you now if that's alright."   
  
Hermoine nodded and stood up. The two of them walked into the office at the top of the stairs. The class sat for a moment coming to a realization of what happened. Then as if everyone got the drift, everyone began talking to their friends.   
  
Draco looked up at the teacher's door wondering where they had found this teacher. Harry and Ron were sitting in the front row talking, while Pansy, Crabb, and Goyle were all sitting together. Draco had chosen the seat by himself. He looked at the teacher with a raised brow, not sure how he would react to this year of DADA.   
  
"Willow Rosenberg…" Draco muttered to himself as he continued to look at the door.   
  
A boy sat down next to Draco, "You are Draco Malfoy?" His voice was truly American. He looked at Draco with a large smile on his face. His brown hair covered his eyes and the glasses seemed to make him look quite close to what Harry looked like. He seemed like he wanted to be Harry.   
  
"Who in the name of Merlin think you have the right to ask me such a thing?" Draco's voice snapped out at him as he looked the boy over. He was wearing silk silver robes that seemed to flow over his body like Draco's own silk robs did.   
  
The boy put out his hand, "Rowan Rosenberg," His voice was simple and to the point as he spoke. He looked Draco over once more, "You were alone, and I knew who you were, so I was thinking that even the rich and famous shouldn't be alone."   
  
"Famous?" Draco raised a brow at that word. He wasn't quite sure who this man was, but it didn't matter. He knew of him, and that was all that mattered. He reluctantly took his hand and gave it a light shake, "Who are you?"   
  
Rowan let a smile grace his lips as he looked Draco over for a third time, "Rowan Rosenberg. Brother of Willow Rosenberg. I'm getting tutored by my sis'." He let another smile cross his lips, "I should be in Ravenclaw at least that is what that damnable thing called a sorting hat said, but Willow told me to stay out of the Houses and just sit in on classes."   
  
"Why are you talking to me?" Draco looked into the hazel eyes of the boy not sure what to get from him, "And why do I continue to talk to you?" His nose wrinkled up like they had just smelled something horrid.   
  
"You are the son of a Death Eater," Rowan's voice was silent as he said this, "And you continue to talk to me because you have something that you would like to tell to someone, and just can't come right out and say it to yourself or to the person." Draco's mind recessed into what it was only 3 days earlier. He turned to Rowan with an aghast look plastered his face, "How dare you…" His words were like pieces of glass being shoved through titanium. "Dray," Rowan said with a large smile on his face, "You just need to lighten up a bit. You are not your father." His voice was sympathetic even though the smile still rested on his face.   
  
"Leave now!" Draco says a bit louder than he meant to.   
  
Rowan promptly stood up and made his way to the front row beside Ron and Harry. He was quickly in on their conversation, and soon all three were laughing.   
  
"What the hell did he mean by…'you have something that you would like to tell to someone…' " Draco's mind wandered once again as he looked at the front row. He took a deep sigh and then a quick breath. He didn't know what was happening, what was going on. He looked back up at the door that Willow had gone in only a few minutes before, "Who are Willow and Rowan Rosenberg?" 


	4. A Prophetic Warning

  
**Disclaimer:**I do not own any of these characters. If I did I would probably be rich. I do thing Warner Brothers owns the movies, and some formerly small British company owns the copyright to the books. Also, this is slashy. No, I'm not some raving homo (Though I don't mean offense to any homosexuals). This was written for some friends…I hope they like it. I would like to say that Rowan Rosenberg is my own creation (since I forgot to put it on the last one.) Willow Rosenberg is semi-my creation. She is from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and was a great asset to their group, and she was cool so I added her to my story. She is a bit different than the Willow on screen, but well she is still owned by Mutant Enemy. Thanks and Enjoy.   
  


Draco Malfoy and the Secret of Isthan

  
  
The houses were hot, and even the magical community seemed to have troubles keeping out the heat. The sun's hot rays touched even the softest of skin burning it into a deep red sunburn. Though the scent of everything seemed to be that of roses, the summer was still hot, and that was that could be known. The mansion loomed over and that seemed to be the only shade on the grounds that were owned by Lucius Malfoy. The land was empty all the servants were in the large manor. Only a lone boy sat outside in the hot air, the boy known as Draco Malfoy.   
  
Rowan made his way into the Slytherin common room with a slight smile on his face. He couldn't help but let the smile go further across his face. It had seemed like months have passed since he came from America, yet school had only started about three weeks ago. He released a breath as he made his way over the large chair that was filled with the young man he was looking for.   
  
"What are you doing here?" Draco's voice rang out from the chair looking at the man who entered the room, "You are not a student, head of house, or a Slytherin, which makes your presence here forbidden." He took a deep breath and blew the air back out at him like a stream of smoke. He looked the youth over his brown hair still over his eyes as Rowan looked at him through his hazel eyes.   
  
Rowan just stood up straight folding his arms in front of him, "I'm still being taught in this school, and Goyle needs to protect himself a bit better from a truth potion. Finding out the nice little password wasn't too hard. I have one for each of the houses, though the Ravenclaws welcome me the most."   
  
"Well go back there," Draco's voice snapped at him. His blonde hair was in shambles which seemed to be his look this year. His robes were finely pressed, but his hair was artistically messed up. He gave Rowan a cold stare as he waited for him to leave.   
  
"Draco cut this shit," Rowan's America tongue was apparent as he stared at Draco. His voice raged levels as he spoke, "You are lonely, alone, you want someone to talk to, but your past experiences say it isn't so. Your destiny can't be reached like this."   
  
Draco's eyes grew wide then were only a slice of an eye, "My destiny?" His voice was cold and hoarse, "What makes you think my destiny is anything but what I have made it?" His blue-gray eyes seemed to grow colder as they looked at him.   
  
"Do you really think your destiny is to end up with your poor excuse for a father in Azkaban?" Rowan's voice grew even colder than Draco's. His hazel eyes seemed to change into the deep blue that was offset by his robes. His eyes were slits, much like Draco's, but his words were so cold that if it were possible a breath of ice would have come from it. He seemed to have a way with his words, but he knew where it was gone.   
  
Draco was enflamed by that comment and his wand seemed to come into his hand immediately. Rowan's own wand was already pointed at Draco before he even fully extended his arm, "You will die…" Draco's voice was hoarse as he seemed to be choking back tears. He looked at Rowan, whose hair seemed to fallen into his eyes.   
  
"Everyone does…" Rowan's voice was still cold and unyielding, "Draco, you know you don't want to be like him. You don't want to end up that way…You have lied to yourself for to long." His wand was pointed directly at Draco's chest, "If you want make something out of my threat go ahead, but it is going to hurt you hell of a lot more than it will hurt me."   
  
Draco brought his wand down, but kept the gaze that was locked onto Rowan, "What do you want with me?" His voice seemed to recede from its hatred into an indifference, which to Rowan seemed just as bad.   
  
"You need a friend, well many friends," Rowan smirked lightly as he moved his wand away from Draco's chest, "You don't want to end up like your father, nor do you want to end up like your mother. Your father is a follower, a servant, a puppet, and a slave, while your mother is a cold shell of a human being, detesting everything that isn't exactly like her, and treating everyone like they are her servants, except you of course."   
  
"I honor my father," Draco lied through his teeth. Each of Rowan's words seemed to cut at Draco leaving mental scars all over his body. Harry may have a scar on his forehead from magic, but Draco's scars ran deeper into him. Harry and Draco both had their scars, but neither wanted to be the way they were, they would change it all if they could.   
  
Rowan let out a slight laugh as he sat down on an armchair, "Isn't this little convoy to try and stop from lying to yourself? It really makes you seem less of a great man than you are meant to be."   
  
Draco had enough about this 'meant to be' and 'destiny' stuff. He stood up and looked down at Rowan in his seat, his superiority once again coming to him, "You really believe that there is something more for me? How do you know this? Can you see the future? Are you some type of seer?"   
  
"What do you think I am?" Rowan's words seemed quieted by the fact the fire crackled louder, "Do you believe me to be a seer? Or just some 'bloody yank' that is getting into your business."   
  
"I don't know who in Merlin's name you are, but you are…" Draco paused as he looked at him, he didn't know what he really wanted to say. He took a deep breath and welling up as much courage as he could. The words flowed from his mouth as if they were a sigh of relief, "right about it all…" Draco's head seemed to instantly be looking down at the floor. He had released something he didn't even really release to Harry. He released his past, mingled with what he thought would be in his future.   
  
"You really don't understand much do you?" Rowan's voice seemed to fade as he looked Draco over. He felt a mental release even if he couldn't read his mind. He saw the release with the air flowing out of him. It seemed like he was changing, but Rowan had no way of knowing if it was for good or worse, "What makes you trust me?"   
  
Draco shook his head not really knowing, "You're a bloody yank who isn't going to be here for long. If you try to do anything to my reputation, I could always shun it off as if you were a bloody nutter!"   
  
"Would that really help?" Rowan said quickly.   
  
"Well no, but…" Draco trailed off as he looked back up at Rowan. He let his breathing return to regular before he spoke again, "What do I have to do?" He wasn't sure about anything and this was the thing he was least sure of at all. He looked at Rowan with a sense of compassion as the words left his lips. He didn't know what he was doing, nor what he was getting himself into, but he would be working at it the best he could.   
  
"Start with those you have wrong…"   
  


* * *

  
  
Draco moved through the halls after dinner the next day. He had Willow's class that morning, and divination that afternoon. He was to have Astronomy tonight, but he was going to shun it off. It seemed like most of the day today he was going to be with the Gryffindors, but he wasn't about ready to make up for everything he has did. He would start at the bottom. A twinge of guilt seemed to plague him as he looked to what he was doing. It was not the good kind of guilt that you get when you are guilty of doing something wrong, he felt guilty that he was betraying everything he had did for his first 5 years at Hogwarts. He felt like he was betraying himself.   
  
Ron's red hair was the first thing that could easily have been seen. He looked over to Draco with a wrinkle in his nose. Neither of them even liked to be in the same hallway, let alone be looking at each other face to face. Ron's robes seemed a bit older than everyone else's, but he still fit in. He was a Prefect, and also a Keeper for the Gryffindor Quidditch team. He would become great in his own right, "Malfoy…" The words seem to escape his lungs as he looked at him, "What is such filth doing here?"   
  
"Weasley," Draco sputtered back at him. Both families have hated each other since, what seemed like, the beginning of time. The twinge of guilt seemed to hold him back. He couldn't speak any of the words he had hoped to speak, nor was he sure if he wanted to. The red-haired boy looked at him with a blind hatred that he didn't think he was relaying back. He just stared at the youth.   
  
Draco's forehead let a small sweat bead trail down it on to his nose, sitting there for what seemed only like an instant before falling down it. His blue-gray eyes looked into Ron, trying to find a small bit of fear, but he couldn't read him, "I'm sorry…" Draco choked out quietly. His voice wasn't even audible, but he said the hard words he never wanted to say.   
  
"What was that?" Ron said his lips the only thing that changed about his statue-like posture. Ron only heard a mumbled escape Draco, but his mind went to work deducing what foul thing he could have said. He just waited to see if Draco was 'man enough' to say it, or if he could only say whatever horrid thing he said to the ground.   
  
"I'm sorry," Draco's voice rose only a few decibels, but he knew Ron could hear him that time, "for everything…" He turned around quickly and made his way down the large corridor away from the awe struck Ron. His breathing seemed to grow deeper as he walked further away. He didn't want to have to do that, and the guilt was ripping at him. It seemed like it was tearing at his very flesh. He turned a second corner from where he had met Ron, and his whole body seemed to collapse.   
  
Draco brought his legs up, wrapping his arms around them. He pushed his head into them and let the tears flow. He began to cry. He let his pains of his past flow away like a river. The pains his father had caused to him fell like a waterfall. He was hit by everything, and it seemed like his emotions had finally snapped. Draco pushed his legs closer as visions of the past began to flow into him…   
  
Every evil memory seemed to flow into him. Every little ounce of an evil thing he did seemed to pull his heart further from his chest. Draco Malfoy the follower of darkness was gone…Draco the poor helpless teenager, lost in the world was all that was left.   
  
Footsteps came down the hall, and stood in front of Draco. A hand with chewed off nails reached down to hand a handkerchief to Draco. Draco looked up unsure of who exactly it was trying to help him. He looked up from tear stained red eyes, "Who?" It didn't surprise him nearly as much as anyone else would have. Rowan was leaning down with a white handkerchief in his hand, and a half-smile plastered on his face.   
  
"Good show," Rowan's voice seemed to gain a difference type of emotion each time Draco heard it. This man seemed to be so different than any other man he had ever seen. He seemed to read his mind, he saw into his inner soul, and he knew exactly what he needed.   
  
Draco looked at him with a slight laugh. Another tear fell down his tear lines, "Thank you." He took the handkerchief and wiped his eyes. He quickly blew his nose afterwards and prepared to hand it back.   
  
"Keep it…don't need your snot." Rowan let out another slight laugh as he held out his hand planning on helping Draco up. His hazel eyes were a deep green, making him look even more like Harry Potter than he had at any other moment.   
  
Draco shoved the handkerchief in his pocket and grabbed Rowan's hand, "Thank you," His voice no longer held as much anger as it did any other time. Rowan pulled his arm back and Draco came up off the ground quite easily, "Why are you helping me?"   
  
"Maybe it's my destiny?" Rowan said with a full smile now on his face. He looked Draco over his black robes seemed to take up a lot of the dirt from the stone floors, "You know, you could do with a nice hot bath."   
  
"I could do with a good nights sleep in someplace that isn't in the dormitories…away from everyone…I need time to think," Draco looked at Rowan as he rubbed his already red eyes. He let out a sigh of what seemed like relief, "Can I call you a friend?"   
  
"Just don't ever call me anything more…" Rowan's face was filled with a serious notion that he hadn't shown Draco before, but his loving smile came back, "I have the perfect place. Harry used it last year for Dumbledore's Army, but at least now it should be open. It's known as the 'Room of Requirement.' And I do believe you should be there…away from everyone."   
  
Rowan looked around as he made his way down the hallway. Draco followed behind like a lost puppy as he did so. Rowan smirked lightly as his own mind asked the room to appear. A silver door appeared in front of him with a slight smile, "This should do you…"   
  
"What is in it?" Draco asked not sure about entering the room.   
  
Rowan pulled the door open to reveal what looked like a small apartment. He looked it over quickly and then with a slight sigh walked inside, "I've been using it as my room, since I don't really have a place to stay. Dumbledore and I talked it over, and I got a room here. We worked out a few kinks and found a bit more about the room. It was created by Rowena Ravenclaw for her as a secret study away from the other founders." Rowan moved deeper into the room and sat in a large arm chair.   
  
"Wicked…" Draco said in lack of any other term. He smirked lightly as he saw the room in its full glory. There were shelves of books and a large bed with silk sheets with a canopy on top of it. He looked at the large silk pillow-cased pillows. All he could think of was how grand it was.   
  
Rowan pointed his fingers towards a door, "That would be the bathroom…" He stood up and moved over to Draco, he put out his hand, "I will bid you adieu until tomorrow."   
  
Draco took his hand and seemed to be lost in a flash:  
  
_

The room seemed dark…everything around him seemed to be filled with something odd.  
He took a deep breath as he looked around. He seemed so unsure about something.  
He took another breath, and another, but he didn't seem to be getting what he needed.  
A large pale face with red slit-like eyes seemed to be glaring at him.  
His voice rang out as a deep rasp, "The Order of Isthan will fall…"   


_  
  
Rowan looked at Draco with a slight smile and then left the room quickly, before any questions could be asked. The door closed behind him, locking Draco away from the outside world.   
  
Draco looked at the door for another second unsure about everything that was happening. He took a large deep breath as he sat himself down on the bed. His eyes stayed open as the memory flashed again, and again through his head. The red eyes seemed to look through him. He opened his mouth to mutter four unspeakable words that no one in the wizarding world wanted to speak, "The Dark Lord Voldermort…" 


	5. Secret Thoughts

  
**Disclaimer:**I do not own any of these characters. If I did I would probably be rich. I do thing Warner Brothers owns the movies, and some formerly small British company owns the copyright to the books. Also, this is slashy. No, I'm not some raving homo (Though I don't mean offense to any homosexuals). This was written for some friends…I hope they like it. I would like to say that Rowan Rosenberg is my own creation (since I forgot to put it on the last one.) Willow Rosenberg is semi-my creation. She is from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and was a great asset to their group, and she was cool so I added her to my story. She is a bit different than the Willow on screen, but well she is still owned by Mutant Enemy. Thanks and Enjoy.   
  


Draco Malfoy and the Secret of Isthan

  
  
Draco looked into the front row of Defense Against Dark Arts the next morning. Rowan was once again sitting with Hermoine, Ron, and Harry all of which seemed interesting in something or another. First, it looked, Rowan would talk, then Ron would speak, then finally Harry seemed to throw in his two cents. Hermoine listened intensely with a broad smile on her face. Draco scowled lightly as he leaned back on his seat.   
  
Crabb, Goyle, and Pansy all looked back at Draco with a look of stupor on their face. Draco didn't even bother to turn his head. He continued to stare at whatever was going on up front. He raised a slight brow when he thought he heard his name being said, but was quite unsure. The Room of Requirement was a good room to sleep in, but it always seemed like Rowan was around when he wanted to get into it. It was like the room would obey him. He continued to stare at the front row quite unsure of the events that were taking place.   
  
Willow walked down the stairs into the larger part of the room. She looked at the classroom and then what seemed to be directly at Malfoy. Her green eyes moved quickly across the room. She didn't seem to know exactly what she wanted and just continued to look around the room. Finally, she released a few words with a smirk, "We are going to start with something you learned last year. The Unforgivable Curses. Constant Vigilance, isn't that what Barty Crouch Junior said to you last year? Or should I say what Mad Eye Moody told to you last year? Regardless, I do plan on teaching it to you, and by the second semester you should be able to withstand my own Impervious Charm which is one of the stronger in the country."   
  
Hermoine's hand was already up in the air. She began her question as Willow nodded, "I thought you said that the ones who were part of the DA did not have to participate until after Christmas?" Her voice flowed beautifully from her lungs.   
  
"I understand that Miss Granger," Willow began, "I did say that, but due to recent events Dumbledore himself has asked that all of you can fight at least two of the curses, and understand that full extent of the third. It will be during the second part of the year in which you will be free to learn on your own as long as you were apart of the group deemed DA. There are a few stipulations that will be new, you must have a teacher there with you in the Room of Requirement."   
  
Willow then turned her gaze to Rowan, "Rowan will also be there during DA with you. Some of you," A smile crossed her face as she looked at Harry, Ron, and Hermoine her eyes than moving to Draco for only a split second, "have already met my younger brother. He is here to learn, much like you are, but due to his…" She faded off for a moment then went back into the sentence,, "gifts. He shall not be brought into any of the houses.   
  
Draco looked at the teacher with a raised brow, 'What kind of gifts does he have?' His eyes looked at the man named Rowan. His mind went over his features, trying to dig deeper into the man's psyche, into his personality, and deep into his soul, but nothing came to him, 'Who are you?'   
  
The class seemed to move by quickly. Willow started with the doing all the Unforgivable Curses on a spider, and then had us do the same. The curses felt strong, and Draco believed that some of these people might like that strong feeling a bit much. He put his own wand to do each of the curses once and then refused to do it again. He had always liked power, and this was a bit much for even him to take in.   
  
Rowan and Hermoine were both talking in the front row. Rowan's voice seemed very soft and silk-like, but it was strong as the words left his mouth, "So, Miss Granger…"   
  
"Hermoine," She replied with a slight smile. Her own voice seemed to be a bit snappy, but it was still had the softness that Rowan's had, "please…"   
  
"Hermoine," Rowan's smirk grew from the simplicity of what it was into a large full faced smile, "What do you think of Draco Malfoy?" Draco seemed to understand exactly what Rowan was doing, but wished he wasn't.   
  
'What is he trying to prove?' Draco's mind asked as he continued to look at the scene, 'I apologized to the one I have wronged the most…why does he keep it up like he does?' He looked as more of the scene in front of him continued to progress into something more.   
  
Hermoine looked at Rowan for a moment, "I have no opinion of him." Her voice seemed to show how much of an opinion she did have of him, but she tried hard to hide it. She looked at Rowan with a raised brow and finally replied with her own question, "Why?"   
  
"I do not see anything wrong with him," Rowan's voice rose quickly after hers, "I've talked to him on a few occasions, and he seems like an alright guy to me." Rowan smile still stood on his face as he talked to this young woman.   
  
Draco seemed awestruck by those words spoken. He didn't know whether she should take it offensively or take it as a compliment, 'What should I do?' He asked himself as he looked Hermoine over, 'Should I go up and apologize for calling her a…what I called her so long ago?' Draco was torn once again by his past prejudices. He looked at Hermoine with squinting eyes, still not fully sure how to react to her indifference to him.   
  
"Aren't your parents Muggles too?" Hermoine asked looking down over at him not sure why he would like Draco if he was of such a birth.   
  
Rowan took a deep breath as he turned his head to look at Malfoy, "My mother was a Muggle, while my father was a wizard." He looked back at Hermoine with a same smile on his face, "Draco is just different than the rest of us. He's kind of like Harry without being a parslemouth, or with parents that are somewhat still alive. They were both wronged by the Dark Lord."   
  
Hermoine nodded lightly as a smile touched her own lips and a small laugh was released, "That is almost funny, comparing Draco to Harry. They are nothing like one another."   
  
Ron and Harry were both just looking at Rowan. Ron was the only one to speak, "So is that why you think that he apologized?" Ron's voice was pure British and it made another smile come across his face just because of the accent.   
  
"Why don't you give him another chance?" Rowan asked somewhat sympathetically. He flicked his wrist as the spider rose up into the air. No words were spoken but the spider continued to fly up in the air.   
  
"How do you…" Hermoine asked standing up looking him over. She looked at the spider for a second and then back in Rowan, "It is impossible!"   
  
Rowan merely laughed at the stupor of all three of them Ron, Harry, and Hermoine, "It's not impossible…it's magic."   
  


* * *

  
  
Draco's mind wandered as he sat down on his new bed in the Room of Requirement. A white towel was wrapped around his waist. His hair was still somewhat wet as he looked around the room. He had spoken with Professor Dumbledore than night, and had his permission to stay away from the rest of the Slytherins, though he himself would retain as a Slytherin.   
  
He laid down on the bed, letting the droplets of water fell onto the silk. He looked up at the canopy, 'I'm having weird premonitions…I'm getting called Harry…."   
  
"Draco?" Harry's voice came through the doorway and soon entered. He was in his Hogwarts robes. His black-brown hair was still in a large mess. He held a smile on his face.   
  
"Potter!" Draco jumped off his silk-canopy bed and stared at Harry. He held the white towel tight as he looked over Harry, "What are you doing here?"   
  
"I came…" Harry smirked lightly, "It isn't the first time I've seen another guy naked?"   
  
"Turn around!" Draco yelled the order much like his old self, though he tried to retain his new attitude. He took a deep breath as he continued to hold his towel like if he let go he would reveal some untamed secret that none beside him could see.   
  
Harry turned around and stared at the wall, "This is really…"   
  
"Shut it, Potter." Draco said loudly as he grabbed for his drawers. He crabbed some clothes and quickly put them on. It seemed like only a minute later when he was clothed in his Hogwarts, "You can turn around now Potter."   
  
"Draco," Harry said as he turned around looking at Draco, "What are you doing? What are you trying to accomplish with your apologizing to Ron…making Rowan your new best friend…sleeping in here instead of in the Slytherin tower."   
  
Draco stood tall and his took his dominant nature, "I`m scared."   
  
"What?" Harry seemed just as confused as Ron did either that week. He looked Draco over as he raised a brow.   
  
"I'm Scared, Harry…" Draco used his name again. He looked Harry over again and didn't know why he was telling Harry this.   
  
Harry looked at him not sure how to react, "Why?"   
  
"I'm leaving everything I knew…I'm trying to become a better person…" Draco's voice showed his sympathy. He didn't know how else to relay what he was feeling. He looked at Harry his eyes seeming to see through him rather seeing him. He wanted to show Harry's spirit, not just his impenetrable outsides.   
  
Harry looked at him for a moment. His greens eyes seemed to cool to him as he looked him over for what seemed like the fifth time. He saw more of Draco than he had meant to. He never wanted to see this part of him, and it was scaring him, "Why are you telling me this?"   
  
"Because I want you to help me…" Draco kept fading as he spoke. He didn't want to go back to his own self. He didn't want to become the demon child he had been before. He wanted to be with Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermoine Granger, and even Rowan Rosenberg. He wanted to become a friend. He needed to become something more than he was.   
  
Harry was very skeptical which his voice could show, "Why should I help you? You have wronged me more than once. You have touched my heart with a similar confession and then ripped it out, crushing it under your boot. Leaving me to wonder what I did wrong. Why should I help someone so heartless as to do that to someone who helped?"   
  
Draco didn't know how to respond. He looked at Harry with a passion he had never looked at anyone before. He felt the tears rushing to his eyes again. Ever wrong he had done to Harry rose in him again. He remember when he called Hermoine a mudblood…he remembered everything…when he yelled at Harry because he had got his father put in Azkaban the previous year…when he yelled at him because he never thought their lives could mingle. Tears flooded his face. He tried to hold back to the true sobs, but the tears fell.   
  
Harry took a step forward still unsure. He didn't understand what was going on in his head. He could tell her was confused, but he couldn't tell why. He looked at him with a raised brow, still quite unsure. Draco looked at Harry for another second. He then ran into Harry's arms. He wrapped his arms around Harry. Harry was taken by surprise, but let Draco hold him. His whole blockade against Draco seemed to fall as he too began to wrap his arms around Draco. Draco let the tears fall onto Harry's clothed chest.   
  
Harry leaned his head against Draco's trying to figure out what was going on in his head. He took a deep breath and then let it out. A realization came over him that he wasn't sure he could handle. Draco needed him, and he would be there to help him. 


	6. Visions

  
**Disclaimer:**I do not own any of these characters. If I did I would probably be rich. I do thing Warner Brothers owns the movies, and some formerly small British company owns the copyright to the books. Also, this is slashy. No, I'm not some raving homo (Though I don't mean offense to any homosexuals). This was written for some friends…I hope they like it. I would like to say that Rowan Rosenberg is my own creation (since I forgot to put it on the last one.) Willow Rosenberg is semi-my creation. She is from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and was a great asset to their group, and she was cool so I added her to my story. She is a bit different than the Willow on screen, but well she is still owned by Mutant Enemy. Thanks and Enjoy.   
  


Draco Malfoy and the Secret of Isthan

  
  
The next day seemed to come too fast. Draco had dressed himself for grandeur, but knew not how well it would go. The day before with Harry seemed to be filled with something he had never felt before. The touching moment they had seemed to only last for a few seconds, and seemed to now be lost in eternity. Draco smirked lightly in the mirror. He was wearing his usual Hogwarts robes, but under them his Slytherin colors were lost. He smiled at himself once more. His hair was messy, but in a decent manor. He seemed to be more contempt with what had happened.   
  
Harry hadn't stayed for long. Though it seemed like their semi-intimate embraced lasted longer than it had, it had only lasted for little over twenty minutes. Draco was left by himself for most of the day, and into the night. He had meditated a lot on everything that had been happening, calming his mind so that he could sort things out. He was changing that much he knew, but how much was he changing, only time could tell.   
  
Draco moved out of his room with his wand stashed somewhere in his robes. He had taken the long way to Herbology even though he knew he would see more people. His whole face seemed to be glowing, which was quite unusual especially for him. His pale skin seemed to show off light, rather than repel it like it had done in the past. He walked down the long corridor ignoring certain people while muttered, 'Hi,' to others. No one knew what to think of Draco. He was being odd. Some people even went far enough to go ask the nurse if THEY were sick.   
  
He moved quickly outside the building, the sunlight beaming down on him as if he were some reborn angel. Angel, probably not, but he was definitely reborn. He moved through the grounds quickly to the Herbology lab. He couldn't help but smile as he watched some kids playing. It was as if a new light had come over him. He took a deep breath before he decided to walk through the class doors into the Herbology lab.   
  
The Slytherin's glared at him as he came into the room. The whole tower had heard of Draco having his own room and had taken some offense to it. The Ravenclaw's merely glared at him because he was late, and also because most of them hated him. His attitude towards everyone besides himself had always been one of his biggest and most prominent features. Now, he had a task in rectifying it.   
  
"Get next to a pot," Professor Sprout said to Draco as he entered, "We are working on planting various herbs. You will be planting lavender."   
  
"Yes Professor Thanks," Draco let the last word slip from his mouth. He caught it almost instantly but just ignored like it never happened. He looked down into the deep black dirt that was in his pot and sighed a breath of relief, 'Why me?' He thought.   
  
Rowan made his way beside him with his own pot and seeds, "You know, being polite really doesn't mean you get to scowl." His smile was already on his face. That smile was one attribute that either made or broke his emotion. If he was happy it was always there, but if he was sad, angry, or being serious you could tell instantly by his lack of smile.   
  
"This isn't me…" Draco muttered to him as he looked down at the seeds, "What is so big with planting lavender anyway? It isn't like it won't grow with some water. We could do this as first years."   
  
Rowan looked down at Draco's pot, "I don't think you understand. We are growing hybrids."   
  
"Hybrid what?" Draco said looking back down at his seeds.   
  
"Professor Sprout explained it to me earlier. We are going to try and mingle plants together. You are going to mingle together a willow seed with a lavender seed." Rowan explained as he dropped a few willow seeds next to Draco's lavender seeds, "I am going to try and mingle a willow tree with rose seed."   
  
Draco looked at Rowan with his own smile dwindling on his face, "Did you hear about Harry…Potter and my talk?"   
  
"Yes," Rowan replied as he tapped each seed in turn with his wand. Then with a light swish and flick the seeds molded together, "Did you want to tell me anything that I already didn't know?"   
  
"Well," Draco looks down at his own seeds trying to copy what Rowan had just done, "Do you think you could help me also? I mean…" Draco took a deep breath before he went on, still trying to mold the two seeds, "I mean, I really don't know if I can do this. This is asking a lot of me. My father is in Azkaban, my mother is a bloody banshee. I mean that figuratively."   
  
Rowan smirked lightly as he swish and flicked his wand making Draco's little seeds mold together. He picked up his own seed and set it in the pot, "Magic is mostly in the user…the wand just helps us focus it a bit. If you mind is focused enough, you can do anything with or without a wand."   
  
Draco shrugged lightly as he quickly threw on his dragon hide gloves. He then dug his hands deep within the dirt and planted the seed, "So are you going to help me?" This attitude was not him, nor did he want to make it be him, but he really did need help, and Rowan seemed like just the guy to do it.   
  
"Haven't I already been helping you?" Rowan picked up the watering can and dribbled some water town on his plants. He padded the dirt with his hand before looking at Draco, "You really think that after all I've done for you I wouldn't help you?"   
  
"All you've done for me!" Draco couldn't help but to smile at this comment, "You are still some filthy mudblood!" His voice had risen just a bit, but it was enough for some of the people to hear him. Professor Sprout continued to work with some of the other students and did not hear this word.   
  
"And you're a homo…" Rowan said still in a low voice, "Do you really want to talk about what we are…" Rowan's smile turned into a sly grin as he looked him over, "Don't think I don't know. Who do you think asked Harry to go talk to you? I gave you that room for a reason. I will talk to you later. I must go speak with Dumbledore before he goes to England." Rowan picked up his pot with the smile still on his face. He turned around for only a second and with that second came another flash in Draco's mind.   
  


_ The darkness rose was again surrounding everything. It seemed as if there was  
no light, no stars, no moon. There was no light at all nothing. A sound shot  
through the sky. The deep green skull of stairs and the serpent protruding  
through the mouth. A dark laugh filled the room. The silence was broken.  
The laugh grew louder into a cackle of sounds. Then the words once again  
the deep raspy words were said, "The Order of Isthan…will fall."  
  
  
_

"Mr. Malfoy!" Professor Sprout called out.   
  
A strong pungent smell seemed to be brought down to his nose.   
  
"Draco!" The Professor's voice rang out again.   
  
The smell grew stronger and a caught inside Draco's nostrils. He coughed lightly before he opened his eyes, "What…" Light came to him, "What the matter?" His voice was hoarse, but he didn't understand why. He looked around. Various people had surrounded him on the ground. Cho Chang, the Ravenclaw Seeker, looked down at him with a slight start.   
  
"I do think you should go to the hospital wing," Professor Sprout chimed out quickly. She didn't give him another chance to answer. Two males from Ravenclaw had helped him up and were carring him away.   
  
Draco flailed his arms for a minute after leaving the green house and looked back at the two Ravenclaws, "I'm fine! Thank you….but I can find my way there." He gave them a quick nod, both of them staring at him, before walking away. He tugged on his robes lightly straightening them all out, "Bloody hell."   
  


* * *

  
  
Within the hour, Draco had found Harry, who refused to talk to him about his vision alone. Hermoine and Ron both came to this little meeting. Draco looked around at all of them and was quite unsure about himself. He didn't really know how he should feel around Ron or Hermoine, both of them he had done wrong one time or another. He did apologize to Ron, but that was nothing compared to what he called Hermoine. She was the smartest witch in school and he had wronged her by calling her a mudblood.   
  
"I'm sorry for calling you a mudblood," Draco's first words were aimed at Hermoine, who took the words with quite a shock. Her mouth seemed to be open for several moments before she finally decided to move, let alone speak to him.   
  
She looked at him through glass eyes. Her soul was lost in those eyes, though it seemed like you could see infinite knowledge within them, "Why do you do this Draco? I don't understand you. Your father is one of the Death Eaters, yet you come to us about your visions rather than calling on your mother. Tell her you visions so she could get to them to Voldermort herself."   
  
Draco winced at his name like everyone did, "Would you rather have me go to them Granger? Would you rather the Dark Lord know what I have been seeing in my head?" His voice seemed cold, but it was filled with more truth than he could have ever uttered before.   
  
"Well," Ron said from behind her looking at him. They had met in the Room of Requirement, which had turned itself into a large library, a quiet place to have this meeting, "Come out with it then…what did you see in this 'vision?' "   
  
Draco explained everything he could about it. He explained the first vision and went right on with the second one. He started with what he saw, then the absence of light and sound, and then the sudden dark cackle with one of the Dark Lord's many facing taking center stage. The story seemed to go on and on, every feeling inside of him during the vision coming out to them finally he uttered the words, "The Order of Isthan will fall."   
  
"Isthan?" Replied Hermoine quickly after he spoke the words. Her face quickly went into a mode that Harry and Ron knew quite well. Both of them had seen her work, and this was the way she looked when her mind was going over every book she read trying to figure out exactly where she could have seen that Order before.   
  
Harry was silent in back watching Draco the whole time. He was unsure of everything about him. He knew Ron and Hermoine were unsure of everything about the meeting, but Harry knew the words of Draco to be true, it was just his motive in general that were surprising him.   
  
Hermoine looked up from the ground, "We need to do research…If what Draco is having really is visions of some-type we need to know what he is seeing, and if the visions are about Voldermort, than we need to find out fast. Who knows what he could be after."   
  
Ron and Draco both winced at the name of Voldermort. They looked at one another and both quickly went into their own little world. Ron leaned back on the chair, while Draco stood up taller and looked down at Ron once more. Neither of them would begin a friendship, nor would either one of them consider what they were doing the beginnings of one. They were sworn enemies, and would always be so.   
  
Harry looked at Draco and then to Hermoine, "Do you believe what he is telling us is the truth?"   
  
"Do you think we really have a choice?" Her voice was filled with a bit of concern as she looked him over, "If he is telling the truth than like I said we need to figure what it is before Voldermort can get it, and if he isn't telling us the truth than we can deal with that later. Whatever change has been going through Draco maybe magic…"   
  
"I don't think so," Harry said looking Draco over once more and then back to Hermoine, "This is him. I am sure of it. If it was Voldermort, my scar would be hurting more than the meager twitching it has been doing since he came back."   
  
Hermoine nodded lightly, "Maybe it is, but I'd still like to check it out."   
  
"Well, I think Malfoy's just a bloody nutter," Ron laughed lightly as he turned to Draco who gave him a dark scowl, "Who else sees visions.." He stopped and looked at Harry, "Oh right…"   
  
Harry rolled his eyes with a slight smile on his face, "So I guess this means we get into research mode."   
  
"Thank you," Draco replied looking at Harry. This man was helping him even though the two of them had once been enemies. Harry was going to try and figure out what was going on even though Draco had called him crude names. The two of them were working together. Harry was truly helping him, but where was Rowan? 


	7. Blood Cry

  
**Disclaimer:**I do not own any of these characters. If I did I would probably be rich. I do thing Warner Brothers owns the movies, and some formerly small British company owns the copyright to the books. Also, this is slashy. No, I'm not some raving homo (Though I don't mean offense to any homosexuals). This was written for some friends…I hope they like it. I would like to say that Rowan Rosenberg is my own creation (since I forgot to put it on the last one.) Willow Rosenberg is semi-my creation. She is from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and was a great asset to their group, and she was cool so I added her to my story. She is a bit different than the Willow on screen, but well she is still owned by Mutant Enemy. Thanks and Enjoy.   
  


Draco Malfoy and the Secret of Isthan

  
  
Draco hadn't really talked to Ron or Hermoine for about a week. He had seen Harry on a few occasions, but those occasions were slim. It seemed almost like they were avoiding him, and he didn't understand why. He had made his way to the Slytherin tower for some twisted reason. He went down into the dungeon-like place that was the common room and looked around, everything seemed so different, yet it wasn't. It only seemed like a week ago that this was his place, the one place that he always seemed to hang out. The place he was with people who didn't really care about him, and worshiped him just because had power.   
  
"Draco…" His name seemed to be ringing out all over the place these days. Draco turned to see the one woman he didn't want to see. Her face seemed to be scrunched up like a pug dog would. She seemed somewhat angry yet not all at the same time, "What is the matter with you?"   
  
Draco didn't know how to react to her. He looked at her for a moment and it seemed almost like his old self began to come back, "What's it to you? Do I look like some doll that you could play with…some animal that you could train to be your pet…" He moved closer to her quite unsure of the dominating   
  
Pansy tried to keep her ground, but at the rate Draco was going it would be impossible, "What did we have?" Her voice seemed to falter as she spoke the words. She looked at Draco and her body seemed to give in to everything. She put up her hand in the most feminine motion she could muster onto his chest, "Draco…"   
  
"We had nothing…" His voice was deep and to the point. He   
  
Pansy looked at him through eyes that were usually fierce. She wasn't sure how to react to him. She looked him in the eyes, than down at the ground. She repeated this for a second and third time and then just stared into his eyes, "What is the matter with you…" Her voice seemed to be as deep as Draco's used to be the same dark dreary sound.   
  
"Nothing…" Draco said as he turned around staring out the window, "Leave me alone…"   
  
"Draco what's the matter…" She grabbed his shoulder trying to turn him around.   
  
In an instant, Draco's hand flung back behind him. It hit the side of her face hard and she quickly fell to the ground, "I said leave me alone!" His voice was loud and anyone in the dormitories could have heard him. His anger had gotten the better of him. He looked down at her with fury on his face, "I said leave me alone…"   
  
Pansy looked up from the ground. She was torn from everything. She didn't know who this man was in front of her. His personality seemed to be shifting back and forth. One minute he seemed to be himself, and the next minute a goody-two-shoes. His third personality seemed to be the worst of them all. This horrid beast of a man that had just showed himself to her was terrifying, "My father will not be pleased…"   
  
"You father will be like all the other pathetic fools who get captured by the Ministry…or one of the fools that is killed by some fool like my father…" Draco's voice rose as he looked at her, "You father isn't under the graces of the Dark Lord. He is a simple peon. My father is a puppet, your father is even less."   
  
Pansy's eyes seemed to change as they looked at him, "How dare you…"   
  
"How Dare You!" Draco's voice raised to a new level, "You think the Dark Lord is anything…He is nothing…" Draco's own temper was growing once again, "He is a man who wants power. You father joined the Death Eaters probably for the same reason my father did. He was afraid. He was scared…They wanted to be close to the power because they didn't have enough courage to stand against it. It really takes courage to stand against someone, but it is the coward that joins what they don't believe in."   
  
"LEAVE!" Pansy yelled standing up, "Before I make you leave…" Her voice was back to the voice she used to control all the other females in Slytherin. The whispered tone it came out as made it even more demanding.   
  
Draco looked at her and couldn't help but to laugh. He moved away from her turning back to take a second glance. He laughed a deep laugh as he left through the door. He took a deep breath as he made his way out, and it was as if his mind was blank, 'What happened in there?'   
  
His mind wandered as he moved down the corridors. He took a turn, and another turn, and before he knew it; he was on the other side of the castle. He looked around and then took another corridor, and another. It seemed like he was going to walk forever. His mind looked back on the moment that he was in the common room, and continued to play the events through his head.   
  
Harry made his way over to Draco, pulling him into an empty classroom, "Here's what's going on. The Order of Isthan are a group of American Seers. The Seers have powers that outweigh anything most wizards would call normal. They have the power not only to see into the future, but also the power to look into the minds of others, and also feel their emotions."   
  
Draco looked at Harry. He didn't know how to react to the information. He looked up with a slight wonder in his eyes, "You really do care about my visions."   
  
Harry nodded lightly as he smiled lightly, "There is also something else."   
  
"Two of them are here." Draco replied as a statement more than anything else. He let his own smirk come across his face, "Harry, I need your help with something…"   
  
Harry let his smile fade as he looked at his new friend, "Yes?"   
  
"I was in the Slytherin common room and had a fight with Pansy…" Draco paced the empty room that he found out to be Professor McGongalls, "I seemed to be horrid…I hit her Harry. I lost my wits, and was gone. Like invisible to what I was doing. This is why I'm scared Harry, I'm scared about what is happening."   
  
"It's okay Draco," Harry said with a smile flowing across his face, "I'll be here for you."   
  
Draco brought himself closer to Harry, "Why/"   
  
"Because you're my friend…" Harry replied quickly, not sure what he meant.   
  
Draco wrapped his arms around Harry, "Is that all…" His voice seemed quiet as he whispered the words into Harry's ear. He was unsure of the words, though they seemed to be quite sure as they left his lips.   
  
"What are you talking about?" Harry pushed Draco away looking at him as he pushed him a bit further away, "Are you saying…"   
  
"I'm not saying anything," Draco replied in return. He took a deep breath and went back to pacing the room, "No…" He turned back to Harry and moved closer, "I will say something. Harry, don't you even see me? Don't you see me right here in front of you. I am here confessing myself to you. Harry, since the moment we met outside of the Leaky Cauldron I have thought only about what you would do if I did this, or what you'd do if I did that." His words were rushed but he went on quickly, "Do you not understand the feels that you are feeling towards me. Do you not understand that something is growing…like those bloody hybrid plants that are growing in Herbology!"   
  
Harry looked at him and backed up himself, "I don't know what you're talking about Draco." He was breathing deep, and his words showed he was unsure about everything. He looked at the door and then back to Draco, "I have Divination…I must be going." Harry rushed out of the room quickly leaving Draco alone. He looked at the door for another second and then made his own way out it. He would give up everything to understand what he wasn't getting with Harry. He'd give up everything if he could just admit they he loved him in return.   
  


* * *

  
  
Draco was in Muggle Studies, a class he had taken up after his leaving of Slytherin. He looked around with the other students that seemed to be in there. There wasn't very many of them, but there was enough for class. He smirked as a Ravenclaw asked yet another question, which made nine by the end of class. Some of these people seemed to really want to learn, which Draco did, just not nearly as much as they did.   
  
"Hello," Rowan said looking at Draco with his usual cheery attitude.   
  
Draco smirked lightly in return, "Are you ever not happy?"   
  
"It's a great day to be alive, why not be happy?" Rowan brought his hand through his newly trimmed hair. It was now a lot shorter and showed off his hazel eyes even more. Today, with his green velvet robes, his eyes seemed to show even more green than anything else. He couldn't help but smile once again as he looked at Draco, "So, why aren't you doing the homework?"   
  
"Are you part of the Order of Isthan," Draco blurted the words out quickly looking at his friend.   
  
"Yes, but that isn't what you really want to ask," Rowan replied a bit to quickly. Draco now seemed to feel his presence in his mind, but it was warm and didn't seem to be hurting him at all. If it was anything it seemed to be helping him a little more each time.   
  
Draco looked at him with the same bland look on his face, "What is wrong with Harry…why won't he just come right out and say what I know he wants to?"   
  
"Did you ever think he's just not ready?" Rowan said looking at him through those now deep green eyes, "I'm not like most in the Order. I can see the future as well as any, but I don't read minds. I'm touching your emotion which is the tingly feeling you are feeling in your head. If I was a mind reader, you wouldn't even know I was there." Rowan tapped Draco's head once, twice, and three times just to show what he was reading, "This isn't it…I'm reading…" He touched Draco's heart, "Here."   
  
Draco smiled lightly as he felt the man touch his chest. He was gaining a deeper satisfaction for this man than he ever thought he would feel for him. He couldn't love him, not like he loved Harry. Harry was the only man he could love. It just seemed to right to love Harry. It seemed to perfect, but Rowan would always be the perfect friend. The one person he could trust, "So you can see into Harrys' heart?"   
  
"Yes," Rowan said fast, but his next word seemed to come right after it, "No."   
  
"I didn't even ask you a bloody question!" Draco replied his mouth open with awe.   
  
Rowan smiled in return, "You were going to."   
  
"How can you say you aren't reading my mind. You answer my questions before I even begin to speak them! That is mind reading."   
  
Rowan couldn't help but let a little giggle escape his lungs, "Draco, I read your emotions, and if you've been doing it nearly as long as I have you can feel what a person is going to do. It's taken me years to perfect this so that I don't slug someone when I get in the same room as someone who is fighting. I've even made out with another guy before because I channeled his emotions, believe me that's not an experience I would like to remember, especially considering my girlfriend at the time was in the room…"   
  
Draco was now the one to laugh, "You really?"   
  
"Not giving any more details, ask my ghost after I die…well then again I'm not going to have a ghost, so…well you'll just never hear it then!" Rowan could feel what Draco wanted to say. He could feel how Draco wanted to express himself. He could read his inner heart, but his mind was a definite blank. He could feel everything about him, but what he was really thinking he couldn't even begin to comprehend, "I'm also an animagus, which is the first in the Order, not the first animagus, but the first Empath-Seer-Animagus. They called it a genetic defect."   
  
Draco's awe struck face seemed to grow as he looked at the man, "You can't be serious."   
  
"I'm serious." Rowan said smiling at him, "They said I was the first of my kind, and if I were to ever have a kid, or two, which I do plan on doing someday, they will hold at least one of those attributes, which is really uncommon for someone to pass it on."   
  
"Then how is your sister and you both part of the…" Draco was cut off by a large scream. Everyone quickly turned their head to the door where the scream had come from. Draco stood up quickly and made his way to the door. A Hufflepuff student had just tried to exit the door. The wall opposite the room had a message written in blood. Draco had seen something like this before, but never this horrific. A unicorn body laid on the ground. It's body was skinned, and the skin was laying next to it. Draco couldn't help but to feel like he would throw up what he had for breakfast.   
  
Rowan stood next to him, but quickly went up to the Unicorn carcass and closed his eyes. His eyes flashed for a minute and then he opened them. He looked up and red the words out loud, "The Dark Lord Will Take What He Wants. The Order of Isthan Will Fall." 


	8. Loveless Ties

  
**Disclaimer:**I do not own any of these characters. If I did I would probably be rich. I do thing Warner Brothers owns the movies, and some formerly small British company owns the copyright to the books. Also, this is slashy. No, I'm not some raving homo (Though I don't mean offense to any homosexuals). This was written for some friends…I hope they like it. I would like to say that Rowan Rosenberg is my own creation (since I forgot to put it on the last one.) Willow Rosenberg is semi-my creation. She is from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and was a great asset to their group, and she was cool so I added her to my story. She is a bit different than the Willow on screen, but well she is still owned by Mutant Enemy. Thanks and Enjoy.   
  


Draco Malfoy and the Secret of Isthan

  
  
Dumbledore returned before night fell that night, and Rowan was the first to go up to his office. Draco, Harry, Ron, and Hermoine had all met in the Room of Requirement. They were speaking about the Order, and what Draco had learned from Rowan himself. Hermoine seemed to least surprised by all of this information.   
  
Rowan entered the room looking at everyone in there, "I think it's time." He looked at Hermoine with a sad look on his face. Whatever had happened in the meeting seems to have gone somewhat badly. He looked through Hermoine's brown curls with a smile, "We can't wait any longer…"   
  
Hermoine looked at Rowan quite unsure of herself. She took a step forward so the three other males could see her, "I have something to tell you." Hermoine's voice was soft as she looked at Harry, Ron, and finally Draco, "I've known what the Order of Isthan is for quite some time, since the first day of school."   
  
"What?" Harry and Ron both rang out in unison. Draco merely sat and watched whatever show that was going to unfold, unfold. He wanted them to be his friends, so in regards to that he was not going to question their motives.   
  
Hermoine went on after the two males abrupt questions, "Willow asked me to become part of the Order. I know I'm not a seer, empathy, telepath, or anything besides a normal witch, but Willow told me I had a talent that I've exercised every year. I am book smart, which is what they need in the Order."   
  
"Didn't you say that only American's were in the Order," Draco replied while sitting on the table, "How could you get in without being…American?"   
  
Rowan smiled lightly, "Hermoine is the one who found that information. The last 15 years has been quite in silence for the Order. We mostly have been traveling around trying to help where we are needed. Recent years have accounted for us to make advances. Hermoine here would be the first British witch to join with us, though we have many from France, Spain, and even India."   
  
Ron didn't know how to take this. He looked at Hermoine than to Rowan. His body wanted to lurch was a laugh, but he knew it was true. He took a deep breath and released some air, trying to calm what he knew was anger, "What does she have to do?"   
  
Hermoine looked at Ron with a deep sympathy. She didn't want to say the next words either, but they were bound to come out sometime, "Next year, I'm going with Willow and Rowan to America, and possibly other places as well. They are going to teach me about the Order, and to hopefully expand on the knowledge I already know."   
  
"No," Harry said standing up looking at both Rowan and Hermoine, "You can't leave Hermoine! You've helped us so much when you've been here. What if something were to happen and you could have been here to stop it."   
  
"Harry," Hermoine's voice sounded of soft innocence, "Willow talked to my parents already, and both of them think it would be a good idea. I don't want to leave, but deep down I know this can make me a better person, and a better witch."   
  
Ron had had enough. He stood up and looked at Hermoine, "You would leave us here? You'd leave me here…" The words flowed out of his mouth before he could say anything to stop them, "You'd go off with a man you hardly know, rather than stay with me…" Ron looked at her sympathetically, but his anger was definitely there, and was making Hermoine a bit on the edge.   
  
Hermoine looked at Ron and then at Harry. Tears began to well up in her eyes and she turned around running out the door. Rowan turned around and then as Ron prepared to run out behind her Rowan pushed his hand against Ron's chest, "Let her go…"   
  
Ron threw away Rowan's hand, "Touch me again, and you will not stop bleeding until Merlin's next birthday," Ron pushed past him and ran out into the hall.Harry made his way to leave behind Ron, and Rowan did the same thing, "You can't leave."   
  
"What do you mean can't leave?" Harry looked at Rowan wondering what was really going on in this youths head. His green eyes looked him over once again, "What are you trying to do here?"   
  
"Ron was supposed to go after Hermoine, and I was supposed to stop him, or try to stop him," Rowan looked out into the hall quickly, "They will come back before our own little meeting is done. I have something else I need to tell just you two."   
  
"What is it?" Draco asked looking at Rowan. His blue-gray eyes seemed to look into Rowan.   
  
Rowan's smile returned after his little fiasco with Ron, "Now, I know everything about your little 'squabble' you've had over the past week or so. I need for you to get it over with and do what you are going to do. I'm not saying either one of you will like what is going on, but I need you to get over the fiasco, and go on. I need your wits about you when everything comes to pass, and the little secret that is going to come when you do decide. It needs to be out. "   
  
Harry looked at Rowan somewhat appalled, "What do you know?"   
  
"I know enough. I'm going to leave this room, and return when Ron and Hermoine return, there better be something worked out between the two of you by the time that happens, or else you will have hell to pay, and believe me. You haven't seen anything until you've seen my temper." Rowan took what he said to heart and gave them a stern look before exiting through the door.   
  


* * *

  
  
Draco seemed to look at Harry for a long time. His eyes looked him over on countless occasions just in the room. He wanted to know what he was thinking, what Harry was feeling. Was he going to be the first one to speak or was Draco going to have to be the one to initiate the conversations.   
  
Harry was indeed the first to speak, "I don't know how to start a conversation like this." Harry's words were true as he could make them. He looked at Draco, "I don't know what I feel for you. You were my enemy for five years, and have been my friend or what you can resemble as a friend for not even close to as long. I don't understand the feelings that are welling up inside me when it comes to you, nor do I. You were the second person to kiss me, and the second person whom I kissed in return."   
  
"Harry," Draco replied almost instantly, "It's hard to really realize how I feel for you. I'm going to come right out and say it doesn't feel right. It would feel right if I was actually in love with Pansy, or if I had some type of crush on Hermoine. I hated you for so long, but then I realized I was envious of everything. I was envious of your friends of the way the teachers treated you. I was envious that they had you I never thought I would. Harry, I know it seems unorthodox, but I believe I love you."   
  
Harry seemed to be less taken by this comment than he had before. The words coming out of Draco were what scared him. It seemed like if Draco was any female Harry would have taken these words much simpler. He looked at Draco for a moment and then nodded with a slight smile, "If you were anything but another male this would have seemed a lot easier, but my feelings wouldn't have changed. Maybe it is love I feel for you." Harry took a step closer with smile on his face.   
  
Draco was the next to move closer to Harry. Harry opened his arms and Draco seemed to fall within them. When they finally decided to speak, their words were true to one another, and in relationships that would always matter. Draco moved his lips up to Harry's ever so slightly. The two met and an intimate passion grew from that little peck of a kiss. The two of them seemed to melt into one another's arms. The kiss was just enough to bind whatever unsaid deal they were making.   
  


* * *

  
  
Rowan smiled outside the room. He could feel what had happened. He felt the courage build in Harry, and the passion that was now being exchanged between the two. His smile grew as he looked down the long corridor. Hermoine and Ron were standing there. Ron was holding Hermoine in his arms. Her hands were resting on his chest. Their words couldn't be heard, but the truth could be felt. It seemed like everyone had someone, except Rowan.   
  
Hermoine smiled lightly as she looked up at Ron. Her mouth moved, but no sound came out of it. Her smile seemed to fade as she brought her lips up to Ron's again. The two restarted the kiss. It seemed to continue. As Rowan watched it he could feel their eternity, their simplistic love. He looked at it and he couldn't help but feel complete.   
  
"Damn empathy power…" He took a deep breath as he knocked on the door. He rapped lightly on the door and walked in, "I didn't want to see anything…" Rowan said smiling as he entered, "Could feel enough…"   
  
Draco stood next to Harry, "I think we've come to a mutual agreement." Draco's voice was filled with some type of happiness. He took a deep breath before going on, "Harry and I are in love…"   
  
"If you'd like to call it that…" Harry looked at Rowan and then back at Draco, "It stems a bit deeper than that." He didn't know how else to say it, "But only for him."   
  
"Yes," Draco said after, "Only for him."   
  
"I think that's enough," Rowan said his smile broadening on his face.   
  
Hermoine and Ron came in holding one another's hands. Ron spoke quickly, "She'll be going with you Rowan, but after the beginning of next term."   
  
Hermoine's smile had returned to her face as she looked at Rowan, "I know." Rowan replied looking at everyone, "I do believe Harry and Draco have something to say also."   
  
Draco's eyes seemed get three times the size they usual were as they looked at him, "What?"   
  
"We are more than friends," Harry's courage surprised everyone, but Draco took it to heart. If he was able to tell his friends about their relationship, he would be strong enough to keep with it to wherever it would go.   
  
Draco smiled lightly, "Don't call us 'homos' or 'bisexuals!'" Draco's voice rang out, "Because we don't like males…"   
  
"If Draco was a woman, I'd care for him just the same, and it is just for one another…" Harry said looking at Hermoine and Ron.   
  
"Fifteen minutes together and already finished each others sentence," Rowan said rolling his eyes with a smile, "Well not everything seemed to be complete I can go on." Ron and Hermoine had questions for both Harry and Draco, but Rowan had planned on it, and would let them discuss it with them later, "Now, the Order of Isthan is mostly Seers, and those Seers are powerful. They can see the future through any substance, or by themselves in the form of visions."   
  
"Draco," Hermoine brought in her own two cents, looking at Draco a bit differently, "I believe the visions you have had were from Rowan. You are not a Seer, and I do not believe it runs in your family. I've talked it over with Rowan and he believes he is somehow giving them to you."   
  
Rowan nodded as he went on, "Dumbledore was in London when the attack occurred. We believe that there is a Death Eater out in the Forbidden Forest looking for where the Coven, or Order, of Isthan has been hiding as a whole. The forest holds more terrors than any of you can imagine, but this is much more than that. Dumbledore had cleaned up the mess from the incident, but the remnants are making people fear Voldermort even more. Voldermort wants to stop the Order before we can foretell anything that may lead to his demise, or his rise. He wants to eliminate all the factors and make everything exactly the way he wants them to be."   
  
"How does he want?" Hermoine asked looking at Draco and Harry with a look that seemed to show she was unsure of the union between the two.   
  
Rowan looked at Hermoine with a 'I think you know' eyes. He didn't say her name, but Hermoine picked up on it instantly, "oh…" Her mind saw a picture of the woman he talked about. The secret of Isthan had been revealed, now the five of them just had to stop her from being Voldermort next victim. 


	9. Fateful Days

  
**Disclaimer:**I do not own any of these characters. If I did I would probably be rich. I do thing Warner Brothers owns the movies, and some formerly small British company owns the copyright to the books. Also, this is slashy. No, I'm not some raving homo (Though I don't mean offense to any homosexuals). This was written for some friends…I hope they like it. I would like to say that Rowan Rosenberg is my own creation (since I forgot to put it on the last one.) Willow Rosenberg is semi-my creation. She is from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and was a great asset to their group, and she was cool so I added her to my story. She is a bit different than the Willow on screen, but well she is still owned by Mutant Enemy. Thanks and Enjoy.   
  


Draco Malfoy and the Secret of Isthan

  
  
Dumbledore returned before night fell that night, and Rowan was the first to go up to his office. Draco, Harry, Ron, and Hermoine had all met in the Room of Requirement. They were speaking about the Order, and what Draco had learned from Rowan himself. Hermoine seemed to least surprised by all of this information.   
  
It took two weeks before they could meet again. Ron and Hermoine had been spending more time together, most of the time being away from Harry. Rowan had been studying to take his Ordinary Wizarding Level exams, to see if he was up to par with Hogwarts students, and Draco seemed to be with Harry ever waking moment. The meeting was held in the Room of Requirement, in which they could be in silence.   
  
Draco was wearing black robes that had the emblem of Hogwarts on the left side of his chest. He stood up tall standing next to Harry. The two would look at one another and couldn't seem to help but smile. They were in love, even though society was against it.   
  
Hermoine and Ron's hands were intermingled as Rowan walked into the room, "Sorry…" He was breathing hard as he entered the room, "I had to finish my Charms, and Defense Against the Dark Arts exams. They were not very pleased with my potions, but I got it done, and it looked like it was supposed to."   
  
"You should have added skunk root." She smiled at him as she fidgeted her fingers through Rons.   
  
Draco looked at Harry and smiled lightly, "Good job against Slytherin," The Quidditch Tournament had started only a week ago, and the Gryffindor team had already beat Slytherin in a shut-out game. Draco's personality was changing even more than he could have imagined. He was taking on a lot of Harry's own traits, and Harry was even taking on some of Draco's older traits.   
  
"What are we here for?" Harry asked looking at Rowan.   
  
Rowan looked at everyone in the room, "Willow has left…" His breathing was still heavy, "She left this morning before a class of first years and hasn't been seen since…I believe she is going…" He took in a deep breath, "To the Order in the forest."   
  
Harry's eyes stood agape as he looked at Rowan, "How could you let her do that?"   
  
"Do you really think I let her do anything? When Willow wants to do something she just goes out and does it," Rowan looked at Harry, "Calm your ass down. I can't let this power get out of control now, you don't understand how hard it could be to get it back in control."   
  
Hermoine's mind was working quickly as she looked over at Rowan, "Do you think she could have had a premonition? Or said something that could be prophetic?"   
  
"She could have, but if she did, how are we supposed to know about it. If no one was there to hear it…" Rowan paused as he looked at Hermoine, "This could be really serious…" His mind was a blazed with probabilities, "If she said a prophecy and no one was there to hear it, this could be really serious. When she goes on one of her rambles, it's hard to tell what is prophecy and what is not. I need to be there, and I need to be there now." He was losing control of his emotions. He couldn't let his sister get hurt, but there are much worse things that could happen to a powerful seer like herself.   
  
"Rowan, calm yourself," It was Ron that spoke this time. He looked at Rowan with eyes of sympathy, "Do you know where the Order meets?"   
  
"Yes," Rowan replied quickly, "And your point is?"   
  
"I'll go get Dumbledore…" Ron had already formulated a plan within his head, "Your four go to the Order meeting place. If there is any troubles from Death Eaters summon the Dark Mark, I know Hermoine knows the charm."   
  
"Are you serious?" Hermoine's voice burst out from the quintet, "The Dark Mark could summon other Death Eaters." She pulled her hand away from Ron's, "I don't know if we could take them." She was breathing just as deep as Rowan was, but her voice was much more dramatic.   
  
Ron already made his way to do the door, "Am I right in guessing that Dumbledore doesn't know where the Order meets?" Ron looked at Rowan and then at Draco and Harry, finally back to Hermoine, "Someone is going to need to show him the way, but the Professor has been gone most of the afternoon, which means anything could happen to her, or she could be hurt. The Dark Mark will be seen by Dumbledore, and I'll tell him it's a problem so he can make his way to that mark."   
  
"Ron," Harry replied looking at his friend, "Do you really think we should do this? You are usually the one, besides Hermoine, to be skeptical." This wasn't the first time Harry had been going through such Danger, nor would it be the last. He looked at his friend, and then at Draco, "Are you up to this?"   
  
Draco nodded. His fear could easily been seen. His whole body was shuddering ever so lightly, but he knew if anyone else didn't see it, Rowan felt it. He looked at Rowan, "I don't know nearly as many charms as the rest of you do, but I will try and help."   
  
Rowan looked at Ron and then at Hermoine, "I think Ron has a really good plan. Do you have anything you would like to add? Or should we just be off?" He looked directly into her eyes and a glint of gold seemed to sparkle in his as he spoke. Hermoine looked into his eyes and then over to Ron, "I do believe he has the best plan."   
  
"Draco," Hermoine turned around looking at him, "I don't believe you have enough training to come along, and I mean that because of what we went through last year." She paused as he looked her in the eyes, much like she had done with Rowan only a moment ago, "You are to get Willow out of there. The rest of us will get her out, but if there is a problem, get her out of there and we will follow."   
  
Rowan looked at Hermoine, "Good plan."   
  


* * *

  
  
Moments passed and they were without Ron, and already heading into the Dark Forest. Several students had seen them going, but none were brave enough to stop him. Rowan was in the lead, and in an instant he seemed to be gone, and in his place was a white tiger. The tiger ran into the deep forest.   
  
"Wicked…" Draco said again with a slight smile from Harry, "That is bloody brilliant."   
  
"Quoting Ron now are we?" Harry replied following the tiger as fast as he could, "Rowan wait!"   
  
The tiger stopped to look at him. The tiger seemed to be the perfect example of a tiger; even its golden eyes seemed magical in nature. The tiger let out a large roar and then continued his path into the forest.   
  
Hermoine was the last to follow; yet, she was the one to keep a watch over everyone else. Her curly brown hair bobbed as she ran behind them all through the forest. She watched as she passed many trees, jumping over roots and vines.   
  
Harry turned around to make sure she was still there, "Are you doing alright?"   
  
"Yes…" She replied as she continued the large jog into the deep forest.   
  
The tiger finally stopped and looked at a wall. The tiger quickly reverted into Rowan once more, "I'm sorry…" He looked back to make sure the other two were there and then touched his wand against the rock. The rock opened to form a large door. With another tap of the wand the door opened, "In most cases we would have a secret keeper, but this is secret from even Dumbledore. A Death Eater couldn't find it without a member from the Order showing them. It is concealed by magic that is as strong as the one on Number 12 Grimmauld Place, but then again Dumbledore is the secret keeper." He moved through the door followed quickly by Hermoine, Draco, and Harry.   
  
Draco watched the scene already unfolding within the place. A man clad in deep black robes stood next to Willow. Her eyes were glazed over and all that could be seen was the whites of her eyes. The dark man had his wand raised and prepared to say a spell.   
  
"Avada…" The voice seemed to rise in a deep rasp.   
  
Draco was instantly horrified, but his courage grew as he pulled up his wand.   
  
"Expelliarmus!" Three voices yelled the words perfectly. All three wands were pointed at the man.   
  
The mans wand flew from his hand. He turned to look at his own attackers. He looked like tall walking skeleton. His skin was barely hanging onto his bones. The only skin that could be seen was the snow white skin of his face, but the red cat-like eyes seemed to show through, "Potter…" His voice was still nothing but a rasp.   
  
"Voldermort," Hermoine said again, "He came himself…" She ran out of the cavern and out into the forest. She held her wand up in the air and closed her eyes. She had never done a charm like she was about to do, and didn't want to do it. She called out the words quickly, "Morsmordre!" The green light shot up into the air. The skull was formed in the sky with a large serpent protruding from it's mouth, "hope Ron gets Dumbledore the message…"   
  
"Accio Wand!" Harry yelled pointing his wand at Voldermort's own. He grabs it almost instantly, and then threw it to Rowan, "Do something about it."   
  
Rowan grabbed the wand and snapped it in half almost instantly. He pointed his wand at it as the words escaped his lungs, "Incendio!" The wooden wand that was Voldermort's burst into flame. Rowan turned to Harry and gave him at thumbs up.   
  
Draco smiled as if he thought everything was in their control. He looked at the Dark Lord and another wave of fear came over him, "Petrificus Totalus!" Draco yelled as he pointed the wand at Voldermort.   
  
"Weak, Pathetic, Fools." Voldermort stood there as he put out his hand, "Accio!" Harry's wand flung from his hand and into Voldermort's, "You think you can break my wand. You think your little Pathetic spells can work on me? I have powers you couldn't dream." He pointed his wand at Harry and prepared to utter the words.   
  
"Stop!' Dumbledore's loud voice came into the room. He was wearing silver robes. That seemed to hold eternity inside of them. He looked at Voldermort and quickly began to speak, "Tom, you will lose." His voice seemed like that of every great wizard. His voice was like it a type of voice you would put in your mind from a story. The voice seemed so majestic that it didn't seem possible.   
  
Voldermort looked at him with the same coy smile on his face, "Albus you twit. You don't have the power to destroy me, and neither does the boy. He will die by my hand, and you will be nowhere to stop him.   
  
Dumbledore held out his wand and pointed it to Voldermort. The wand came flying towards Dumbledore and he handed it to Ron who was standing next to him. This battle seemed like it was over, but it was far from it. Ron moved over and gave Harry his wand, "Tom…surrender yourself."   
  
"There is no surrender for me." Voldermort took a deep breath and rose his hands up. The whole cavern shook violently, "I have powers you couldn't even imagine Dumbledore. You're goodness clouds everything. Search out the power, and that is where I am. I am power."   
  
Dumbledore looked around. He had a solemn look on his face, "Leave now, all of you!"   
  
Harry looked at Dumbledore and then at everyone, finally at Draco, "Get Willow…"   
  
Draco moved over to their Professor. She was laying down on the floor her eyes were now closed. He put her in his arms and made his way towards the exit.   
  
Rowan looked at Dumbledore for a second and then ran to the exit, "Come on!"   
  
Hermoine, Ron, and Harry were the first three out followed by Draco and Willow. Rowan watched Dumbledore for another second. He was standing tall, but Rowan was still unsure of everything that was happening. He looked at Dumbledore for another moment, "Good luck…" He whispered as he left the door the cavern.Rowan looked at the door as the others and him continued to run down through the forest, "Draco!" Rowan yelled looking at his friend, "Is she okay?"   
  
Draco smirked lightly as he set her down, "Carry her…"   
  
Rowan picked her up, and looked down at his sister, "Good she's…" A large thunder hit the sky, and then a large explosion. Time seemed to stop. Harry turned around and looked back at the cavern. His whole body seemed dumb struck. He stared at the place where the door was. Draco was beside him staring at the same place. The door was broke into hundreds of pieces, and boulders surrounded the entrance. 


	10. Tearless Sadness

  
**Disclaimer:**I do not own any of these characters. If I did I would probably be rich. I do thing Warner Brothers owns the movies, and some formerly small British company owns the copyright to the books. Also, this is slashy. No, I'm not some raving homo (Though I don't mean offense to any homosexuals). This was written for some friends…I hope they like it. I would like to say that Rowan Rosenberg is my own creation (since I forgot to put it on the last one.) Willow Rosenberg is semi-my creation. She is from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and was a great asset to their group, and she was cool so I added her to my story. She is a bit different than the Willow on screen, but well she is still owned by Mutant Enemy. Thanks and Enjoy.   
  


Draco Malfoy and the Secret of Isthan

  
  
The six of them rushed through the forest. Draco had to pull Harry most of the way. Harry needed proof of whatever had happened really happened. He didn't believe that a simple spell could ever do that. Hermoine had stated for what seemed like an hour about how it could, but now it didn't matter. It was getting dark, and when darkness befell the forest. Everything about them being there was for mere survival. If they wanted to survive, they had to keep going. They kept on until they were on the grounds of the castle.   
  
Rowan stopped first with Willow in his arms, "Harry…take her to the Defense Against the Dark Art's room…I'll be there momentarily. I'm going back as a tiger…nightfall will be soon get to the room."   
  
Harry took Willow from Rowan who quickly morphed into a tiger and ran back into the forest.   
  
Draco looked at Harry and then down at Rowan, "Any change?"   
  
Hermoine made her way over the Willow and Harry, "Lumos…" The tip of her wand turned into a deep light. She opened Willow's eyes and then shined the light closet o them, "Everything looks okay." The light is extinguished and she put the wand away. She moved her pointer and middle fingers to under Willow's wrist to try and feel the pulse. About ten seconds later she looked at Harry, "Everything is doing okay. Let's go to the Defense Against the Dark Arts room. It will be free, and it's closer than the room of Requirement."   
  
Ron stood there being somewhat silent. His first words were simply, "Let's go…"   
  
The four of them made their way quickly to the Defense Against the Dark Arts room in record time, but Rowan didn't make it for another few minutes. He came in and as breathing deeply, "The rocks are piled high and impossible to move, even with magic. I tried everything…They aren't going to move."   
  
Harry sat down Willow on the table. He quickly took off his robes and made them a pillow under her head. He couldn't help but to smile at the sweet look on her face, "How can someone be some contempt, yet not at all be coherent?"   
  
"Maybe she's dreaming?" Ron asked looking down at her also.   
  
Hermoine was the last to look at her checking her pulse once more, "I do believe she will be alright.   
  
Harry made his way beside Draco his hand moving down into Draco's, "I wish we knew what was going on." He took a deep breath and turned to look into Draco's deep blue eyes. He turned back to look at Willow, and then back at Draco, "Do you think anything wrong…"   
  
Draco pulled lightly away from Harry and walked over to her. He touched her lightly. Her eyes shot open and words that were foreign to her lips came out in a deep British accent: 

_ Death has not taken the Dark Lord. Death is his gift. Death is his trophy.  
The Phoenix Order lives on without the glorious father, but like the Phoenix,  
From the Ashes Rises Another. Cause be the carrier of the Dark Lord's power.  
The end is nigh', but with an heir to Darkness, will good triumph. _

  
  
Rowan after the first three words was writing down the words. He looked at everyone and then back at Willow's whose eyes were still open, but they were now filled with a groggy look, "Rowan…" Her voice was simple as she looked around for her brother, "I'm sorry about…but…"   
  
"It's alright," Rowan said as he touched her lips to silence her, "Voldermort is trapped under about a hundred feet of rock debris. The only wand he would have would be Dumbledore…who is also trapped under about a hundred feet of rock."   
  
Draco looked at Rowan and then at Willow, "What does that mean…Death is his gift…Death is his trophy…with an heir of Darkness."   
  
"You," Hermoine's voice chimed out quickly as her eyes wandered to the sheet, "Dumbledore is gone…The Phoenix Order lives on without the glorious father…" She looked at Draco, "Your father is part of the Darkness, and you would be his heir, then again there is also Crabbe, Goyle, and Pansy."   
  
Draco shook his head, "They are set in their ways. They don't have any goodness in them."   
  
Hermoine nodded lightly as her voice rose, "Voldermort is temporary confine. Harry you are going to need to work hard and try to come up to his standards in the opposite sense of his own. You need to become strong and destroy him."   
  


* * *

  
  
Draco sat in his room by himself. He had been brought into something he couldn't fully understand. He took a deep breath as he looked around his room. Dumbledore had agreed to have him resorted, since next semester the room of Requirement was going to be in use.   
  
"Draco," Rowan's voice was deep as he looked at Draco in his room, "I'm going to be going here pretty soon. The semester is almost up, and I just wanted to tell you goodbye." His voice was deep as he looked at Draco with a slight smile, "Things are going to be a bit different. I mean…Harry will be here for you, but you aren't going to have any more of my nice prophetic stuff."   
  
Draco smirked as he looked at Rowan, "So you are going to be off taking Ron's girl, are ya?"   
  
"I'm not 'taking' her anywhere," Rowan said as he looked down at the floor, "I will be touring the world with her, but that is all we are doing." He looked up with that smile on his face, "You know. I'm going to miss you, but you'll have Harry."   
  
"I'll have Harry," Draco repeated with his own snort-like laugh, "You get out of here you bloody nutter." Draco tugged lightly on his robes hoping to straighten them out a bit, "Unless of course you have something else to tell me?"   
  
"Watch out for Voldermort," Rowan couldn't help but smile as Draco winced, "You're fighting against him now, you should learn to at least cope with his name. You are in this as deep as Harry is. Voldermort will be after you…You betrayed your father, and he will not take such a threat lightly."   
  
Draco looked at him with a raised brow, "Why would he care if I betrayed my father?"   
  
"Because you father is one of his most trusted Death Eaters. Your father is one of the people who will be out to kill Harry." Rowan stopped and looked into his blue-gray eyes, "And because you love him. That makes you weak. At least that is what he thinks. I think that love will make you stronger."   
  
Draco watched as Rowan turned around and left the room. He didn't know how to take the information that he had just been given. He made his way out his door and looked at Rowan, "I'm a Gryffindor now."   
  
"You're no longer cold hearted, angry driven, and succumbing to the darkside of the force?" Rowan asks looking at him with a raised brow.   
  
"Dark side of the force? Is that some American lingo that I've never heard?" Draco asked.   
  
Rowan laughed as he looked at Draco, "I don't believe you should try to figure it out. I don't believe you heard could full comprehend it. Did you hear?"   
  
"About what?" Draco shot out quickly.   
  
"Minerva is a grandmother," Rowan said looking at Draco.   
  
Draco's eyes got bigger as he heard the news, "Really!"   
  
"They named him Albus," Rowan turned and walked away regardless of Draco being ready for him to.   
  


* * *

  
  
Harry, Ron, and Draco stood at the steps that led into Hogwarts. The snow on the ground seemed to be moving back and forth as the wind blew it in a different direction. The school year was half over, and Hermoine was going to leave. The party they had for both Rowan and Hermoine was the largest Hogwarts had seen for just two people. Ron and Hermoine had their own time together.   
  
"Goodbye," Draco said looking at Rowan, "You said you were going to leave…then stayed for nearly another month."   
  
"I know…and I'm the seer," Rowan laughed lightly as he put out his hand for Draco to shake.   
  
Draco took it and smiled lightly, "Might need to work on that."   
  
Ron still held Hermoine in his arms. Both of them were looking at one another with a slight sadness in their eyes and their cheeks, "Why do you have to go?" Ron stated looking at Hermoine. He knew the answer to the rhetorical question, but had a need to ask it anyways.   
  
"Ron," Hermoine said bringing her lips for what seemed like the two-hundredth time up to Ron's, "You know why I decided to go, and you promised you would let me!" She let out a slight frown cross her lips, "I really would have stayed. If you would have told me to, but now everything is set. I'm going to come back in a year's time, and you'll really see what I have learned."   
  
Ron merely nodded lightly as he pulled away, "I don't want this to be a goodbye." Ron too had changed since Draco had entered their group. He had finally told Hermoine how he had felt, and Hermoine had finally received what she knew it be true.   
  
Hermoine smiled lightly, "Then leave and expect me back. It isn't goodbye, never goodbye. Merely a time separated."   
  
Ron made his way up the stairs, "I will see you when I do."   
  
"Bye Ron," Rowan yelled up at Ron and then looked at Hermoine, "I'll be your knight until Ron takes the mantle back from me."   
  
Hermoine merely smiled, "You could never be my Knight…Ron already has that position."   
  
Rowan shrugged as he took his hand back from Harry's, "And he will forever."   
  
"Is that some type of prophecy in the making?" Hermoine asked."   
  
"Could be," Rowan replied looking at Harry, "And one last Goodbye for the boy who lived."   
  
"The boy still living," Harry said with a slight smile, "I will see you Rowan, and Hermoine, you have my friendship forever."   
  
Hermoine let a tear fade down her cheek, "I'm beginning to feel like I'm never going to see you again."   
  
"You'll see me again," Harry replied, "I'll always be here."   
  
Draco looked at Harry, Hermoine, and then brought his gaze to Rowan, "So I guess I'll see you when another great prophecy comes around?" He let out a small laugh.   
  
"Well," Rowan said handing a mirror to Draco, "Sirius gave one of these to Harry last year. It's a two way mirror. Say my name and I'll pick it up in my own mirror. Now, if Ron wants to speak with Hermoine, he can call my name and I'll give the mirror to her. So I must now be going. But thank you for your friendship."   
  
Draco moved a bit closer to Harry and pulled Harry towards him, "Harry and I thank you for much more!" He replied as Hermoine too turned around and walked to the carriage. Draco brought his lips up to Harry's and kissed him with a smile on his lips, "We found the Secret of Isthan…"   
  
Harry smiled lightly as he looked down at Draco, "We faced the Dark Lord."   
  
"We found one another," Draco moved up to kissed Harry once more. Their lips met and it seemed like it was eternity. Forever passed by them as their lips touched, "And I am forever glad we did…" The words broke the eternity, but Draco couldn't help but speak them.   
  
Harry kissed Draco and pulled away. He looked down at the one person he can honestly say he felt love for, and simply said the words, "I love you."   
  
Draco looked up at his friend. He kissed him again more passionately than before. As the carriage began to move away with the Thestrals to pull them Draco simply stated as he moved his gaze to the carriage, "I know." 


End file.
